Scott Dudinskie's most memorable game of 2011: Danville vs. Lake-Lehman state baseball

I was a "no-hit, all-field" shortstop long before I knew there was such a thing.

After five years of Little League, I'd have bet my bike "three-and-out" was a baseball phrase coined for my at-bats.

Ted Williams literally wrote the book on hitting, but I didn't need him to tell me the most difficult thing to do in sports is hit a round ball with a round bat squarely. So tough, you'll often hear, the best fail seven out of every 10 times they try.

So I've always appreciated those who can do it consistently -- at any level of the game.

Barry Bonds did it so well he was intentionally walked a record 120 times in 2004 (while collecting 135 hits); the opposition figured it more prudent to give him a base than risk the home run king taking four with one swing. That's like a banker gladly handing out $100 bills to anyone with a rap sheet, but sometimes it makes sense.

You can take precautions with a great hitter, like a thief, or risk losing everything.

Danville trailed Lake-Lehman 5-1 in the middle of their first-round state playoff game the first week of June. It was a tough spot for the Ironmen, who had won their final three regular-season games over four days just to qualify for the district tournament they won.

However, pairs of errors in the first and fifth innings had them down four runs to a team they'd beaten 6-2 during that stretch of must-win games.

A brief aside: How many times have you done the math, trying to determine whether your team's big boppers will come to the plate again for one more shot?

Danville sluggers Anthony Renz and Cody Cooper each figured to bat once more, most likely in the sixth but maybe the fifth if the Ironmen could get a couple baserunners.

They came out of an impromptu team meeting in front of their dugout sticks blazing. Adam Creasy looped a one-out Texas Leaguer, and Andrew Andreychik followed with a laser to the wall in left-center field. Then Jeff Ross, who had a bad hack at an 0-2 curve his previous at-bat, went down to get an 0-2 bender and roped it into the left-field corner to make it 5-3. The scene was set for Renz and Cooper, who finished the season with more than 50 RBIs between them.

Renz popped out to shallow right field with a runner at third. No pressure, Cody.

A brief aside: How many times have you thought, A hit would be great but, man, how big would a homer be here?

Cooper blasted a made-to-order bomb to left-center that scattered birds beyond the Bowman Field wall and tied the score.

"Unbelievable clutch hitting," Danville coach Devin Knorr said later, a spot-on yet understated description.

Cooper's homer tied the game, plus it gave the Ironmen a decent chance to back to the middle of the order in the seventh.

They did, and Renz came to the plate with two outs and a man at second. He knocked the first pitch he saw to shallow right-center, a clean single off the bat, for the game-winning run.

Sure, there will always be more Mighty Caseys than Coopers and Renzes in those situations. That's what sets apart those magical, storybook endings.

A brief aside: How often have you thought to yourself, Wow, how lucky am I to have been here?

n Scott Dudinskie is a Daily Item sports writer. Email comments to sdudinskie@dailyitem.com.

Source: http://dailyitem.com/0200_sports/x1120121965/Scott-Dudinskies-most-memorable-game-of-2011-Danville-vs-Lake-Lehman-state-baseball

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