They Want To Play

Baseball 2009, Game 86: Sumter P-15's 12, Dalzell Jets 2

Sumter Sloppiness: 7
Dalzell Sloppiness: 17
Most batters in one inning: 8
Hitter of the Game: Patrick Gordon, Sumter (rating: 40)
Pitcher of the Game: Tyler Smith, Sumter (rating: 136)
Time of Game: 2:29
Mid-game temperature: 84 degrees
Attendance: 150 (estimated, Level V sporting event)

The Sumter P-15's have a long established tradition of winning, and the players good enough to be on this team play for South Carolina's 8th largest city despite being only between the ages of 15 and 19.

The Dalzell Jets, on the other hand, only play for themselves. The team has moved around to various locations and has no fan base. Aside from the 2007 season when the Jets finished 8th in the state of South Carolina, Dalzell usually finishes with a win or two in about 20 games played.

This has been one of those seasons, Dalzell entering this game with a 1-8 record. The P-15's entered by contrast with an 11-1 record. That one loss was to Shelby of North Carolina, a game that doesn't count in Sumter's league record which is what ultimately matters to them in the regular season.

The Jets to remain competitive draw from far more than their base schools of the public Crestwood High School and the private Thomas Sumter Academy. They also draw many players from Lakewood High School, a school that has traditionally served the P-15's and now hosts the Jets' games. Within the Hayden family, Josh plays for the P-15's and his undersized brother Keith is on the Jets. Nick Belcher, who pitched for Sumter earlier this year including in the loss to Dalzell, left the P-15's to join his fellow Lakewood Gators at Dalzell. On this Monday night, Belcher would bat DH and briefly pitch against his former teammates. Justin Till, who played first base for the P-15's base school in Sumter High, was the first baseman for the Jets as well.

A lot of this displeases Sumter fans, who want the players to stay true to their community and not wander off elsewhere in the county. Dalzell has actually had great talent of their own occasionally, producing major leaguers Billy McMillon and Terrell Wade. But most Dalzell players today play simply because they want to play. They may not be good enough to play P-15 baseball, but they are much better than your average teenager and want to play competitive baseball somewhere. Some fans would argue that they should play in local rec leagues, but these players growing up in the shadows of the P-15's want a piece of the glory, even if that means routine 10-run losses to American Legion Baseball's better teams.

For most of the game, Dalzell starter Taylor Powell kept the P-15's in check. Powell kept his walk total to a respectable 4 in 7 innings pitched, and induced many pop-ups. The Sumter coaching staff and radio announcers were driven nuts all night long about pop-ups that the Jets could easily handle. Dalzell led 1-0 after 2 innings, and Sumter would not take the lead until the top of the 5th.

What the Jets could not easily andle were ground balls, and the Jets as a result made 5 errors. This created the majority of Sumter's 12 runs, and had the Jets infield done a better job the game may have remained close throughout. The biggest error came by Jets' right fielder Whitey Sanders, who slipped trying to field Tony Micklon's single and allowed two runs (including Mickon himself) to score. Powell was taken out after 7 innings in favor of the former P-15 Belcher. One P-15 fan remarked, "Hey, they're bringing in Wild Thing". Belcher proved that fan correct, walking all three batters he faced and throwining two wild pitches. This would lead to a 4 run 8th where Sumter took a 10-2 lead to put the game away.

The teams combined for numerous popups, 9 errors, and only 5 of the 14 runs between the two teams were driven in by a batter. To much of the 150 fans surrounding Lakewood High's ball field Monday night, this wasn't a good baseball game. But you can't expect high school summer leaguers to provide good baseball every night, one thing that I have found odd about the P-15's huge fan support. While both the local newspaper and the coaches after the game complained about how their teams played, the kids in the game for both teams played. That is ultimately what matters for these guys.