Arizona here we come, will it rain there?

Just Monday morning I was in 75 degree weather in New Orleans.  My on time flights got me back to Eugene in time to rush over to Swede to watch North Eugene host West Albany.  It was a good day for the MWL as three of the four teams scheduled to play got their games in and won.  But since then, with the exception of  Sheldon getting a win on an artificial turf infield at McMinnville high school on Wednesday, we've had eleven rainouts.  At least we haven't lost a game yet.

ARIZONA HERE WE COME
The list of teams not going south is much shorter than the list of those heading to dry country.

• Marshfield - North Marion Tourney
• South Eugene - Glencoe Tourney
• Springfield - Double header at Ashland

The Smart Six

• Churchill, Marist, Sheldon, Thurston, Willamette are in Arizona
• North Eugene is pulling up short of Arizona with a tourney in Las Vegas

In 1968 I think my team Marshfield went to Brookings for a double header during spring break.  Things have changed.

RPI and out of state tournaments
Churchill, Marist, North Eugene and Sheldon are all tied for first in the RPI standings with a .625 score.  But winning against out of state opponents won't count much, if at all,  in RPI calculations.  (The OSAA hopes to fix that in time for the 2011-2012 sports seasons).  So if these teams travel all the way to Arizona and end up facing another Oregon team, don't feel too bad.  They'll earn RPI points even if they lose to a fellow Oregon team.  If you want to feel sorry for a team, you can feel sorry for Pendleton, who is 2-0 on the season, and has an RPI score of "N/A" because both of their wins are against out of state schools which are closer to them than most Oregon schools.

Oddities from the first three games.
There were at least three unusual, if not oddball, events in the first four games and all involved the umps:

1. One occurred in the North game.   This one involved the high school no contact rule.  West Albany had been having a horrible day throwing the ball to the bases on routine plays.  So when they finally turned an easy to turn double play in the third inning, the first baseman was so happy he forgot that Shawn Boehm had headed over to third.  Boehm noticed that the first baseman had temporarily checked out, so Boehm tried the Kidsports steal of home....  The Bulldog bench finally gets the gloveman to throw to home, but he short hops it.  The catcher, who is protecting home plate with his tush and knee, knocks the ball down to the ground.  Boehm, who would have been out by five feet on a good throw, now finds himself with an easy score, that is, if the catcher isn't blocking the plate without the ball.   Shawn Boehm did what I would have done, he instinctively lowered himself to 'nudge' the catcher off of the plate.  As soon as the catcher felt contact, he also did what I would have done.  The catcher double arm wrapped Boehm and took Boehm to the ground in a great wrestling move.  Result and umps call? Boehm was called out at home for making contact, and both players had to take a seat.  I'm by no means a rules expert, but I think the umps technically got it right.  But what is a runner supposed to do if the ball is on the ground and a player is blocking the base?  I guess high school baseball needs to develop a sign for the runner called "The I am being polite and not initiating contact even though it is clear I would be safe because the fielder doesn't have the ball in his hand or glove Rule." (By the way, good job North and West Albany players for not starting a riot after the collision at the plate) 
2. I'd hate to be the ump on this one.  Have you ever watched the home plate ump stare at the plate to make sure a player steps on the plate after a player hits a homer?  I'm sure no ump ever wants to call this one.  But in the Marist game, a Spartan put the rule to the test, and just like the ump in the first game, this ump made the right technical call.  I guess.  So, batters, touch home plate!
3. And when is the last time you saw an ump overrule himself?  In the Sheldon game, a Sheldon pitcher wasn't stopping out of the stretch before he threw to home.  The ump missed it, but was put on the lookout.  No biggie, that happens.  So, a couple of pitches the later, the pitcher doesn't stop again and the ump calls a balk.  Problem being that the pitcher threw to first.  The McMinnville runner was sent to second, but the ump realized what he had done and reversed his call. 

College Players
The list of MWL players playing baseball in college is quite large this year.  My current count stands at 26 players.  Thurston leads my list with 7, North follows with 5, Springfield has 4, Sheldon and Churchill have 3.  Jeff McKay is coaching at Corban University and has four former MWL players.  You can find 10 MWLer's on the Lane CC team.  I'm probably a little light on players from Marist, Sheldon and South Eugene as I haven't followed them the last four years.  If you know of anyone else, let me know.  Here is the list.  MWL college players

Pros
I haven't started the update of MWL players in the pros in 2011.  But if you know of anyone, please let me know.  Here's last year's list.  MWL in the Pros
   
Photos
If you see a great, or not so great, photo in the SmugMug gallery that interests you, please consider buying it.  I recommend waiting until at least halfway through the season if you are thinking of buying photos of just one or two players.  During football, a couple of schools had one person make an order to buy photos of lots of different players, thus keeping shipping costs down.  Also, if you have any special requests, such as larger size photos, please let me know at mwlnow@yahoo.com.

Some of you may have noticed that during basketball I did not use the copyright image over the photos on SmugMug.  That's because I don't consider myself all that good at basketball photography yet.  But there may come a day that I will charge for basketball, too.

Finally, please keep in mind that regular reporters get free access to their sons photos so they can print them at home.

Please let others know about the website.
There are still a lot of MWL parents and players who haven't run across the website yet.  Please let them know.  In general, the more people who visit the site, the more income I generate.  How much income you might ask?  Well, since I added Google Ads, it took 19 months to generate the first 100 dollars and I'm hoping to make the next $100 in just six months.  My cost of the photo catalog SmugMug is 150 bucks a year, and I've generated about $150 dollars in profit in photography in one year.  (But half of the photography profits go back to booster clubs.)  Your support helps cover my gas and occasional tickets to playoff games.  If I ever figure out to make some real money, I'll buy a new $6,000 camera body, and then you'll see some awesome photos!

PS.
Some of you have known my wife, Jennifer, for many years.  The reason I was in Louisiana was to attend her oldest son's wedding.  Ben Brink swam in the 2000 Olympic Trials, but was forced out of the sport due to injury just one year later.  In 1999 he set the OSAA state meet record in the boys 200 IM.  The record still stands.  Ben married a wonderful Southern Belle, Hillary Hanna, and they will be living in Houston.  That's two boys married off and two to go for Jennifer and I.  Oh, we also worked in Fat Tuesday in N'orleans.