Reds lose again as Stephenson, Addleman struggle

By HAL McCOY

Winning spring exhibition games is not Priority A for any major league baseball team, especially one like the Cincinnati Reds, a team on a search mission for a 25-man roster.

But at some point it is important to establish a winning environment. Fortunately for the Reds, there are many games remaining to absorb some positive vibes because they are off to an ugly start.

They lost their third straight exhibition game of Spring Training 2017, Sunday afternoon, a 9-5 whacking by the San Francisco Giants.

IT WAS A LESS-THAN-MEMORABLE day for two pitchers trying to win one of two available starting rotation spots.

Tim Adleman started for the Reds and gave up two runs, four hits and one of the hits was a home run.

But the Reds scored four runs in the bottom of the first and turned a 4-2 lead over to Robert Stephenson, a No. 1 draft pick who has been less than impressive in his quest to show he deserved to be a No. 1 pick.

HIS PERFORMANCE SUNDAY was plug ugly — he faced nine batters in the third inning and gave up four runs, three hits, walked two and hit a batter. He walked the first batter and then was torched for a two-run home run by Joe Panik.

San Francisco’s Home Run Derby continued in the third inning, a two-run home run by Jarrett Parker against Nick Routt, a 28-year-old non-roster invitee who was 2-0 with a 0.89 earned run average and an All-Star appearance last season at Class AA Pensacola.

Michael Lorenzen made his spring debut and it was shaky. He walked the first batter on four pitches, retired the next two, then issued two more walks and a run-scoring single.

THERE WERE, THOUGH, a couple of positive pitching performances by Tony Cingrani and Luis Castillo.

Cingrani, the only certified left hander in the Reds’ bullpen for now, walked the first batter he faced, then went 1-2-3.

Castillo was outstanding — six up and six down in the seventh and eighth innings with a pair of strikeouts.

The 24-year-old Castillo, a starter most of last season, was acquired from the Miami Marlins, along with Austin Brice, in a trade for Dan Strailey. In 24 starts, 21 in Class A and three in Class AA, he was 8-and-6 and was listed in some quarters as the Marlins’ No. 2 pitching prospect.

Offensively, the Reds scored four runs in the second inning but only one more via nine hits. Jose Peraza had two hits, the only member of the Reds with more than one.

Lot of hits, no runs for Reds in 8-2 loss

By HAL McCOY

While most teams believe that six weeks for spring training is far too long, a task that becomes drudgery even under Arizona sunshine, the Cincinnati Reds might be an exception.

Is six weeks enough?

In this era of reconstruction and rebuilding, manager Bryan Price and his staff are facing a tough task trying to stitch together a 25-man roster from a camp full of a lot of strangers.

AS SPRING TRAINING BEGAN, only three starting roles were supposedly filled — Anthony DeSclafani, Brandon Finnegan and newly acquired journeyman Scott Feldman. With Homer Bailey out of the picture for now, there are two spots to fill.

And there is that leaky bullpen to build and a bench to build. The bullpen and the bench both were weaker last season than an 80-year-old man’s non-dominant arm.

“In this camp we have so many players that none of us on our major league staff have seen play much,” said Price.

“A lot of them we have only seen them throw a bullpen and a little live batting practice or take a few swings in batting practice,” he said. “We really haven’t seen much of them so we really want to sink our teeth into seeing a lot of these new guys. So I have no idea a week or so into spring training as to who is going to make this club.”

PRICE SAID IT IS LIKELY one or two non-roster players might be on the Opening Day roster — guys like outfielders Ryan Raburn or Desmond Jennings, players with some major league experience who are in camp on minor league contracts, guys who might be usable bench players.

And there is a player like Bronson Arroyo, a 39-year-old pitcher trying to resurrect his career after two years of injury problems, a possibility to grab one of the rotation spots.

“It will be very difficult not to have one or two non-roster players make this team because we have two spots open in the rotation and two spots in the bullpen and four bench spots and a second catcher,” said Price.

“We have guys like Tony Renda and Hernan Iribarren, non-roster guys who are going to compete. I can’t say that zero of those guys will make the club. That’s unlikely.”

SO THE SEARCH FOR usable parts and pieces continued Saturday afternoon when the Reds played their second spring exhibition game and lost for the second time, this time to the Cleveland Indians, 8-2, in Goodyear, Ariz.

Despite outhitting the Tribe, 14-11, it was not a good offensive day for the Reds. They left 13 on base and were 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

Amir Garrett, a tall lefthander and former St. John’s University basketball player, is one of the rotation candidates. He acquitted himself well. He gave up a run and two hits over 1 2/3 innings and the run in the first inning was aided by an error by shortstop Armendy Alcantara.

Garrett retired the first two in the second inning but was removed because of his heavy pitch count in the first inning.

RED THIRD BASEMAN Eugenio Suarez, who didn’t play Friday in the opener, ripped the second pitch he saw this spring over the right field wall in the top of the second to tie it, 1-1.

And the Reds took a 2-1 lead in the same inning when Jesse Winker, Dilson Herrera and Hernan Iribarren all singled.

That was it for the day as far as any member of the Reds finding home plate.

Jumbo Diaz pitched the third and loaded the bases on a walk, a single to former Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and a hit-by-pitch of Yan Gomes.

The first run scored on a ground ball by Bradley Zimmer and the second on an infield hit by Daniel Robertson to make it 3-2.

Jumbo’s work sheet was one inning, two runs, two hits, a walk, no strikeouts and a hit batsman.

AUSTIN BRICE, THE YOUNG pitcher acquired from the Miami Marlins for pitcher Dan Straily, pitched the fifth and none of his first five pitches were in the strike zone. He walked the first batter on four pitches and hit the next batter with his next pitch.

After a strikeout, Brice gave up a run-scoring single to Bradley Zimmer to make it 4-2. Zimmer, trying to make the Tribe’s roster as an outfielder, had two hits in three at bats and drove in five runs.

The final three came in the seventh inning against Cincinnati’s Jackson Stephens, an 18th-round draft pick in the 2012. Zimmer ripped a three-run home run to make it 7-2.

Reds regulars Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto, neither of whom played Friday, were in Saturday’s lineup and both went 0 for 3. Suarez and Iribarren each had two hits.

Smith’s overtime work saves Flyers

By HAL McCOY

For 40 minutes, University of Dayton point guard Scoochie Smith was the Nowhere Man.

He sat for 10 of those 40 minutes with foul miseries and in regulation time he took one shot. And missed.

But when his team came back from the graveyard, down 13 points with 7:42 left against Davidson to tie it and send it into overtime, Scoochie pointed to the rafters and said, “Put all the spotlights on me.”

He scored UD’s first 11 points in the overtime, three straight three-pointers and a back door cut for a layup to save the day, an 89-82 victory that had to be seen to be believed.

And even then it was unbelievable.

It was 74-74 when the overtime began after the Flyers outscored Davidson 17-4 in the final 7:43.

The game was tied, 56-56, with 12 minutes left when Davidson guard Jack Gibbs scored 11 straight points to Dayton’s none and it looked as if the Flyers were ready for funeral services.

Then came Dayton’s late charge to tie it when Xeyrius Williams scored with 35 seconds left. Jack Gibbs missed an attempt for a game-winner at :03.3.

Then it was Scoochie time.

—He started the overtime with a ‘3’ from the top of the lane, his first field goal of the game. 77-74.

—He hit another three from the top of the lane at 3:10. 80-76.

—He hit another three, a step-away again from the top of the lane at 1:41. 83-76.

—He cut backdoor to the basket and received a sleight-of-hand pass from Charles Cookie for a layup at 1:41. 85-78.

All the Flyers had to do from there was make a few free throws and they made four of six to close it out.

For the game they made 31 of 45 free throws.

So the Flyers pushed their work sheet to 23-5 for the season and 14-2 in the Atlantic 10, in first place by a half game over Virginia Commonweath, which has a difficult assignment Saturday at Rhode Island.

The Flyers faced a difficult task stopping a couple of Ohio natives in 6-foot guard Jack Gibbs from Westerville, averaging 21.2, and 6-foot-8 Peyton Aldridge from Leavittsburg, averaging 20.7.

And they were as advertised. Each scored 27, but they took 40 of their team’s 63 shots. Gibbs took 21 shots and Aldridge took 19.

Aldridge scored 19 in the first half, but coach Archie Miller switched defensive assignments at halftime and put Kendall Pollard on him. Pollard muscled him away from the basket and held him to eight points in the second half. Pollard also scored 18, grabbed 12 rebounds and snatched four steals.

The Flyers were soft and disoriented in the first half. They committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. They average 11 a game. And Davidson scored 45 points in the first half, the most given up by the Flyers this season.

Amazingly, though, when they were down, 38-31, they outscored Davidson 15-7 during a late-half rush and took a 46-45 halftime lead.

Then they fell behind by 13 with 7:43 left and staged the Secretariat finish.

Of Smith’s incredible overtime one-man show, coach Archie Miller said, “The guy who usually shows up in big moments showed up. Those threes were probably the biggest shots of his career.”

And of Pollard’s defensive work on Aldridge, Miller said, “Kendall started to be really physical on their screens. We had a hard time all game matching up with them (Aldridge, Gibbs). Kendall just took it upon himself to bully his way over the screens to make things as hard as possible.

“And Charles Cooke did a really good job in the second half making it hard for Gibbs,” Miller added.

Neither Aldridge nor Gibbs were factors late in the game and in overtime. They both play nearly every minute of every game and were leg weary by game’s end.

While Davidson was a Two-Man Show, Miller said of his Flyers and its ‘True Team’ motto, “Give our guys credit — the way they talk in the huddles, they way they come back to the huddles, it is refreshing as a coach to watch them believe in one another. At the end of the day, it was a team approach.”

Smith finished with 17 points (all six of his points in the first half were at the foul line, Pollard has 18, Cooke scored 17 and Xeyrius Williams scored 13 in the first half en route to 17. That’s not only True Team, it is True Balance — 18, 17, 17 and 17.

Familiar scenario: Reds lose in 9th

By HAL McCOY

For better or for worse, this is how baseball spring training works.

The visiting team takes a skeleton squad on the road while the home team has its full complement of players.

And that’s the way it was Friday afternoon when the Cincinnati Reds opened the 2017 exhibition season with a game in Scottsdale, Ariz. against the San Francisco Giants.

Not that scores and results mean much in these exercises, but there was a familiar pattern to this game. The Reds took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Relief pitcher Kevin Shackleford put two Giants on base with no outs and gave up a game-ending walk-off three-run home run to Chris Marrero with no outs for a 6-4 Giants win.

Where have we heard this scenario before?

THE REDS STARTED THREE regulars — outfielders Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler and second baseman Jose Peraza. The starting pitcher was Rookie Davis, who pitched in Class AA last season.

Manager Bryan Price threw the heavyweights at the Giants in the early going — 6-foot-5, 250-pound Davis, followed by 6-foot-5, 270-pound Sal Romano.

Romano, a Double-A pitcher last year, pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four while walking two, the most impressive performance for the day.

THE GIANTS FIELDED WHAT amounts to almost their Opening Day lineup, including pitcher Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner, 15-and-7 with a 2.74 earned run average last season, soaked up the sun for only one inning and the Reds scored two runs.

Outfielder Arismendy Alcantara, claimed off waivers from Oakland last season, doubled and with two outs first baseman Patrick Kivlehan, claimed off waivers last September from San Diego, produced a two-run single.

Hunter Pence singled home a run in the bottom of the first off Davis and the Reds retrieved that run in the top of the second on a triple by Tony Renda and a single by Peraza to make it 3-1.

Cincinnati’s Wandy Peralta gave up a run when the first two Giants ripped hits off him in the fifth to make it 3-2.

From there, as is usual in early spring games, the afternoon finished with a long assortment of Class AA and Class AAA prospects and wannabes.

THERE WERE NO INTENTIONAL walks issued — they don’t do intentional walks in meaningless spring exhibitions.

When the season begins, intentional walks will be no-pitch walks. Instead of throwing four wide pitches out of the strike zone, managers will merely issue a signal from the dugout for an intentional walk and the batter will trot to first base.

It is one of commissioner Rob Manfred’s attempts to speed up the game, which is two steps below ludicrous.

A study revealed that an intentional walk is issued once every three games. And how long does it take to throw four wide pitches? Two minute? So you save two minutes every three games?

REMEMBER THE 1972 WORLD Series? Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench had two strikes on him, but the Oakland Athletics acted as if they were going to intentionally walk him. Instead, relief pitcher Rollie Fingers threw a pitch down the middle and the stunned and shocked Bench took it for strike three — an infamous footnote to World Series history that will never happen again.

Fingers says he never mentions it when he sees Bench but Bench always brings it up and says, “That was the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

When Miguel Cabrera played for the Florida Marlins, he ripped a single on a misplaced ‘intentional walk’ pitch by Todd Williams of the Baltimore Orioles and drove in a go-ahead run.

On September 27, 1973, Phillies catcher and former Reds manager Bob Boone came up against the Pirates’ Chris Zachary in the 13th inning with one out and Greg Luzinski on second. Zachary tried to put Boone on, but Boone slapped the first pitch for a single, moving Luzinski to third. The Bull promptly scored on a wild pitch to give the Phils a 3–2 win.

Those will never happen again.

KANSAS CITY’S BRANDON Moss realizes the implication of taking something away that has been part of the game for 150 years.

“That’s the worst,” said Moss. “What if it’s Game 7 of the World Series, tie game in the bottom of the ninth? Someone hits a one-out triple, and Miguel Cabrera comes up to the plate. That pitcher should have to throw four pitches to Miguel Cabrera, whether they’re intentional balls or not. That’s a nerve-wracking situation, and now it’s gone.”

The traditionalists (and most major league players) wonder why a game designed to be played at a leisurely pace needs speeding up?

MANFRED AND THE OWNERS are concerned that baseball is not appealing to the millenniums, who would rather exercise their fingers on social media gadgets than pay attention to a live baseball game for three hours.

But veteran infield Jimmy Rollins of the Giants is perplexed.

“The beauty of our game has always been that there is no clock,” he said. “So now they want one. If you’re making the game an hour shorter, OK, you’re making an impact. Or even 30 minutes shorter? But five or eight minutes? Come on.”

AND FOR THE 2018 season Manfred wants to implement a 20-second clock on pitchers — a pitch must be thrown within 20 seconds of the pitcher getting the ball after his previous pitch.

Kansas City’s Moss had some pointed words about Manfred’s plans.

“I’m just very glad I will not be playing the game in 10 years. It won’t be recognizable. It’s going in a direction where it’s not the same game. Every year they keep trying to think of some stupid new rule. It’s getting old. Real oldAnd to that I raise an icy cold glass of Yuengling Lager.

Flyers’ defense strangles Saint Louis

By HAL McCOY

On this night, the St. Louis Gateway Arch couldn’t have scored on the Dayton Flyers.

CBS/Sports broadcasters Brent Stover and Bob Wenzel jabbered on-and-on-and on about UD’s defense in the first half Tuesday night at the Chaifetz Arena.

They seemed amazed that the strangling UD defense contested every shot, forced bad shots and made Saint Louis University’s Billikens resemble mere kittens.

The Flyers won, as expected, by 85-63, staying in high-step with Virginia Commonwealth atop the Atlantic 10 Conference at 11-and-2.

With just under 12 minutes left, UD led by 36 points at 64-28 and Saint Louis was shooting 26 percent.

For sure, the Billikens (9-and-17 and 4-and-9 in the Atlantic 10) are not very good. But they had won three of their previous four and four straight at home.

But this one was over before any fan finished their first hot dog,  just 11 minutes into the game when the Flyers led, 18-4. The Flyers hit seven of their first 12 shots and when UD hit 18 it came after five straight Saint Louis turnovers and the Billikens were 2 for 15 on their home court.

Perhaps the biggest factor in this Mississippi Mayhem was the chance for Josh Cunningham to get his feet wet. And he didn’t do it in the Mississippi River. He did it on the floor.

After missing 21 games, the 6-foot-10 transfer from Bradley University returned Friday against Rhode Island and played only two minutes because he drew four quick fouls. His statistical line read: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.

On Tuesday he played 23 minutes and scored 12 points on four of five shooting and four of four from the foul line. And he added four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

“He is very efficient around the basket,” said coach Archie Miller. “He has a unique way of catching the ball around the basket and getting off his shots.”

And the Flyers were masterful despite a less-than-healthy Scoochie Smith, who missed the pre-game shoot-around due to flu-like symptoms.

He started, but played only 22 minutes, the fewest this season. But he still scored 10 points and dished five assists.

Charles Cooke led the way, recovering his missing shooting eye by going 7 for 9, four for four on three-pointers, all in the three-pointers in the first half, on his way to a team-high 18 points. And he contributed seven rebounds and three assists.

Even with Scoochie slowed by illness, the Flyers shared the basketball as if they were all UNICEF volunteers.

Of their first 22 baskets, 21 came with assists.

The Flyers were a perfect machine for 32 minutes and, as Miller said, “Things got a little sloppy for us in the last eight minutes. But our pressure defense in the first half was the key to the game.”

The Flyers, the A-10’s most efficient defensive aggregation, led at halftime 41-17. They hit 14 of 23 first-half shots (61 percent) and were five of eight from three-point distance. And they were 8 for 8 from the foul line.

Meanwhile, the frustrated Billikens were 8 of 29 (24 percent) in the first half and 1 for 9 from three.

As Miller said, the final eight minutes were sloppy, but that didn’t stop seldom-used Trey Landers from coming off the bench late in the game to score five points, hitting both his field goal attempts, in only seven minutes.

And Xeyrius Williams, who hit two mammoth three-pointers in the last 18 seconds at Rhode Island Friday to push the Flyers to victory, got his first start of the season Tuesday.

UD’s season worksheet is now 20-and-5, ensuring the Flyers of their fourth straight 20-win season and they have won 47 of their last 59 A-10 games.

And it was the senior class’s 98th victory over the past four years, setting a school record.

“Those seniors (Scoochie Smith, Kendall Pollard, Kyle Davis) have been the cornerstone for the resurgence of the program,” said Miller. “They do nothing but play to win. In the last four years not one of them has ever complained about shots or minutes. They’ve set a very, very high standard.”

 

 

UD’s motto: ‘Whatever it takes’

By HAL McCOY

One of the favorite quotes uttered all season by University of Dayton senior forward Kendall Pollard is, “Whatever it takes.”

And once again the Flyers put that quote to good use during a rugged night at the University of Rhode Island.

What it took Friday night was a lot of intensity, a lot of never-give-up, a lot of help from the bench and a tense, gutty three-point shot by sophomore bench player Xeyrius Williams to beat Rhode Island, 75-74.

With the Flyers down by two points and the clock nosing quickly toward 0:00, Williams calmly took aim from the left side after taking a pass from Scoochie Smith and buried the game-winning three-pointer.

It was deja vu for Rhode Island — same situation, different player. A year ago in Kingston, R.I., the Flyers also won the game on a last ditch three-pointer, that time by Darrell Davis.

But it wasn’t over this time when Williams hit his three. There were still 0:07.7.2 seconds left. The Rams moved the ball downcourt and Jared Terrell barged toward the basket. Pollard blocked his way and the ball squirted out of bounds.

It appeared to bounce off Tererell’s chest, but the officials ruled it belonged to Rhode Island and gave them an out-of-bounds play with 0:01.4 seconds left.

When the Rams tried to inbounds the pass it flew awry to half-court as time expired and the Flyers earned a big, big, big Atlantic 10 victory.

If the Flyers had lost, they would have fallen into a tie with Rhode Island at 9-and-3. Instead, Rhode Island toppled to 8-and-4 and the first-place Flyers climbed to 10-and-2. And it gave the Flyers a noteworthy road victory to enhance their RPI work sheet.

Williams, a 6-foot-8 graduate of Wayne High School in Huber Heights, a long jump shot from the UD campus, came off the bench to score 13 points on five of seven shooting, 2 of 4 from the three-point line.

And it was a bench victory for the Flyers. Their non-srarters outscored Rhode Island’s bench brigage 24-3.

As happens so often this season, the Flyers played the first half in a daze and a haze and fell behind by as many as 11 points. They were down 29-18 with four minutes left in the half because they had made only 5 of 25 shots — 2 for 14 before Ryan Mikesell hit a three after the Flyers made a couple of free throws, cutting it to 29-23.

Despite shooting only 27.6 per cent, their second worst first half of the season, the Flyers trailed by only 36-30 —mainly because of hustle and heart on defense. They forced eight first-half turnovers.

The Flyers came out with smoke coming out of their nostrils to start the second half and grabbed their first lead of the game at 37-36 on two Kendall Pollard free throws.

From there it was back-and-forth, forth-and-back and before the game ended it was tied nine times and the lead changed from team-to-team 11 times.

Dayton’s biggest lead of the second half was three points with 8:22 left. And they were down, 73-69 with 25 seconds left.

But Williams hit a three with 0:18.6 seconds left to draw the Flyers within one. Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews made one of two free throws at 0:24.4 to give the Rams a 74-72 lead.

Then Williams struck again with his dagger.

It was a night the Flyers had to do it when their leader, point guard Scoochie Smith, was not at his best. He was saddled with fouls and made only 3 of 10 shots en route to seven points. But he had a couple of other big sevens — seven assists and seven rebounds.

Charles Cooke continues to struggle with his shooting, hitting 4 of 11 on his way to 13 points. But old reliable, Kendall Pollard banged in 17, eight coming from the free throw line on 10 attempts.

After missing 21 games with a torn ligament, Josh Cunningham returned to action, albeit very limited. He played exactly two minutes and drew three fouls. The rest of the line on his score sheet was a string of zeros.

But, as Pollard likes to say, “Whatever it takes.” And the Flyers definitely took this one the hard way.

Flyers score important win at Fordham

By HAL McCOY

For years and years, a trip to New York to play Fordham University was like a leisurely afternoon stroll through Central Park.

It was a game most teams could mark in the ‘W’ column before the first whistle was blown.

Not any more. Now it is like a creep through Central Park at midnight, which no person with all functioning faculties would ever contemplate doing.

THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON discovered that Tuesday night in Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx.

They knew going in it wouldn’t be a breeze. They know the Fordham Rams beat Virginia Commonwealth at home and they knew the Rams beat Davidson and UMass on the road.

So, the Flyers tread lightly and gave the Rams proper respect before walking away with a hard-earned 75-66 victory.

IT WASN’T AS EASY as the score might suggest. With six minutes left Fordham owned a 60-59 lead. UD outscored the Rams 15-7 down the stretch.

The victory enabled the Flyers to retain a share of first place in the Atlantic-10 at 7-and-2 and pushed their season’s work sheet to 16-and-5.

It was Dayton’s 13th straight victory over Fordham, but probably the toughest of the bunch.

AMAZINGLY THE FLYERS average only 12 turnovers a game, but they turned the ball over six times the first seven times they had the ball to begin the game.

Fortunately, the Rams are offensively challenged and thrive on defense and forcing turnovers, so UD only trailed 5-3 during the first six minutes when they kept turning the ball over to Fordham.

Fordham stayed in the game in the first half with a blizzard of three-pointers, a facet of the game at which UD usually thrives — preventing threes.

Fordham buried nine in the first half, five by Chris Sengfelder.

Dayton built a nine-point lead, 39-30, late in the first half, but Fordham bombed home three straight threes to tie it by halftime, 39-39.

SOMEBODY TOOK A HOSE to the Rams at halftime, especially Sengfelder. After making 5 of 9 threes in the first half, he didn’t make any in the second half. And Fordham, which made 9 of 17 in the first half, made only 2 of 8 in the second half.

Perhaps the game’s defining moment came when the Flyers trailed, 60-59, with 5 ½ minutes left.

The Rams owned the basketball but it was time for UD senior Scoochie Smith to dazzle his family and friends who populated the stands. Smith grew up three miles from Rose Hill gym.

 

On this possession, Smith stole the ball and made a quick behind the back pass to ignite a fast break that concluded with a basket by Xeyrius Williams to put the Flyers in front, 61-60.

THEY NEVER TRAILED AFTER that. And with the Flyers on top, 68-64, with 3:11 left, Smith drove the lane and hit a stop-and-popper to push UD’s advantage to 70-64.

Smith scored only 10 point and made only two shots, but took only six and was six for six at the foul line. But, as usual, he controlled the offense and was the team’s settling influence.

The offense was provided by Kendall Pollard, who set up squatter’s rights at the area around the rim and scored 25, making 8 of 11 shots and went 9 for 13 from the foul line.

The Flyers were deadly at the foul line, 23 for 27. They outscored the Rams in the paint 32-26 and outscored them off turnovers 18-14.

Sengfelder led Fordham with 21 but fouled out late in the game. Fordham’s leading scorer and rebounder, Javonte Hawkins, scored only two points on 1 of 6 shooting and fouled out with four minutes left.

 

 

 

 

 

Hal appearing January 29th at Crabshire’s Tavern In Centerville

​Hal McCoy will be at Crabshire’s Tavern, Centerville, January 29th from 3:00 to 5:00. Hal will be talking baseball as only he knows it, mixing and mingling with the guests, and offering his book for sale! Please join us for a fun filled afternoon of baseball, libations, and good times! Hal would love to see you and your families.

Some ‘Man Cave’ Unsolicited Observations

By HAL McCOY

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, just 27 days before the start of spring training — but who is counting.

HALL OF FAME SHORSTOP Ozzie Smith, who played for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals, was in Cincinnati Tuesday to speak at the La Salle Sports Stag and was asked if he liked coming to Cincinnati.

“Why would I ever like coming to Cincinnati?” he said. “I hated it. Why? Because we had to play The Big Red Machine.”

LATE NIGHT TELEVISION drives me to distraction. Earlyl this week I decided to watch a move, ‘Hurricane Season,’ about a high school basketball team from New Orleans that won a state championship the year Katrina obliterated the city.

It started at midnight and seven minutes in the Centric network broke for commercials. And commercials. And more commercials. I thought there must have been 20 commercials.

So at ther next break, I decided to count the commercials. The break came at 12:33. I was absolutely correct. There were 20 commericals about: a movioe, paper towels, seasoning, chocolate, candy, a chain restaureant, hair coloring, insurance, health foods, water filters, weight loss, credit checking, vaporizors, hotel reservations, tax preparations, on-line schooling, dish washing liquid, baby food, exercise bikes, movie promo.

After those 20 commercials the move resumd at 12:42 (nine minutes of commercials). Eight minutes later, 20 more commercials. I gave up. There was a horrible movie on MGM, but I watched it because MGM shows no-commercial breaks movies with just one intermission.

REMEMBER THE TV show Dragnet and Detective Joe Friday, played by Jack Webb? Well, Joe Fridays badge number was 714. That’s because Webb was a huge baseball fan and Babe Ruth was his favorite player and Ruth hit 714 career home runs.

EVERY YEAR I attend a baseball banquet in Portsmouth, an event to raise money for the maintenance of the famous murals on the flood walls in downtown Portsmouth.

The star of the show every year is former scout Gene Bennett, who worked for the Reds for more than 50 years and signed players like Don Gullett and Barry Larkin.

The price of admission is worth every penny just to hear the pre-dinner prayer offered up by Al Oliver, a Portsmouth native and former star outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers.

Oliver was a teammate of outfielder Roberto Clemente and Oliver remembers an eerie comment made by Clemente on the last day of the 1972 season.

Clemente had 2,999 hits on the final day of the season and Oliver told him, “Well, if you don’t get your 3,000th hit today you’ll get it next year.”

Said Clemente, “God has the last say.”

Clemente got his 3,000th hit that day, his 3,000th and last. During the off-season he put together an air lift to carry food and drink and clothing to the people of Nicaragua after an earthquate. Clemente’s plane went down shortly after takeoff and he was killed.

A GREAT QUOTE BY a former Reds employee who worked for former owner Marge Schott, who was banished from baseball for, among many things, racial slurs. Said the employeoe, “Marge said good things about bad people and bad things about good people.”

WHILE AT PORTSMOUTH HIGH, Oliver was an outstanding basketball player. I saw him play. I was with the 1964 Dayton Belmont state champions when they played at Portsmouth, which was unbeaten at the time. Belmont beat them in their home gym, even though Belmont star Bill Hosket keeps telling Oliver, “You guys cheated. You had your own refs and one basket was in front of a stage and every time we shot free throws the students would shake the basket supports and make the basket move. But you guys were the toughest team we played all year.”

Oliver went to Kent State on a basketball scholarship, but last only one quarter before deciding to pursue baseball. “I thought it would be easier to face Bob Gibson and Tom Sreaver than to face Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain,” he said.