Mike Kaffee
Hurricanes Baseball Reporter
[email protected]
As it has been for most of the preseason, the weather has played and been a major factor in why this team is not as far along as we would like them to be. Today, once again Mother Nature raised her ugly head and the original 8 innings we were supposed to have today was reduced to 4. We ended up settling for 2 1/2 before the heavy downpour put the end to any hope of seeing a complete scrimmage being played out.
What was scheduled to start at 415 actually started at 355 in the hope of getting in the 4 innings before being driven off the field. It started in a slight drizzle and slowly progressed until conditions got so bad that enough was enough. Not certain on whether Gino was planning on utilizing another set of pitchers beyond two, but it turned out Ashton Crowther and Chris Scinta both freshman and left-handed got to see all the action, what little there was today.
Ashton, under drizzling conditions, started on the mound. As the day progressed it appeared both pitchers were having problems with footing on the mound. Ashton definitely showed marked improvement from his first outing but whether it was the weather or just his inability to find the strike zone he walked 2 of the 5 batters he faced and ended the inning with Edgardo Villegas driving an RBI single through the middle. The second and third inning, under increasing downpours, settled in with a 6up/6down venture striking out two in the second. Didn’t have the opportunity to see if his fielding ability improved from his first outing where he definitely had issues throwing the ball to 1st.
Ashton’s counterpart, Chris definitely started on the right footing with Edgardo, playing left, making the defensive play of the shortened, abbreviated scrimmage with a diving catch to start his day. After what should have been a sure-fire hit by Jacoby Long, it was smooth sailing the rest of the two innings pitched only giving up a walk to CJ Kayfus in the first.
