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FALCON BAEBALL NOTES - MAY 21, 2011

The city of Richland might be known nationally as the Atomic City, but in the world of Big Nine baseball, it is Backstop Central.

Richland's Jarrod Turner and Hanford's Chris Synoground will start the beginning of the end of their senior seasons today in the opening round of state play.

Both have realistic expectations of grinding out two more weekends of baseball and finishing their outstanding careers at the same place -- Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, sight of the 4A and 3A semifinals and championship.

What is remarkable is that these two distinguished backstops -- Turner was named to the CBBN 4A first team, Synoground the 3A first team -- started their catching careers in a most indistinguished way.

"It was the first day of Little League practice, and I was in the outfield," Synoground recalled. "They kept asking, 'Who wants to play catcher?' No one answered, so I said I would."

"I was really slow," Turner said bluntly. "I couldn't really move very well. So I'd just sit back there and have to work it out."

By draft or volunteer, both stuck with the position, and their current coaches are quite thankful.

"He just does a great job," Richland coach Ben Jacobs said of Turner. "He's a great leader, a natural leader.

"To be a catcher, you got to be mentally tough and physically tough. And I've never seen him get beat on a ball in the dirt."

"It's not easy being a catcher," said Hanford coach Tom DeWitz, referring not just the physical demands of squatting behind the plate in catchers gear for a doubleheader. "My wife talked to me a few times this year, telling me to take it easy, saying I'm too hard on Syno during the game. I said, 'Honey, he's the catcher, and when we yell at the catcher, we're really trying to talk to the umpire or pitcher, and we do it through the catcher: Move the glove around! Where was that pitch?!'

"Chris understands that."

Both catchers are renowned for their defense, but both are having big years at the plate as well.

Turner is hitting .352 with six home runs, six doubles and 24 RBIs. Synoground hit .400 during the regular season with three doubles, a home run and a team-high 20 RBIs.

But as much as they contribute to the run support, both have a much more important job: handling the pitching staff.

Turner and Synoground call their own games, consulting with coaches beforehand but relying on their own knowledge of their pitchers and opposing hitters to know which pitch to call in what situation against which batter.

Both also catch staffs that predominantly throw breaking stuff, which means a lot of balls in the dirt. Richland's top pitcher, Syd Hall, has a curveball that breaks two different ways, and Turner never knows which until he has to react.

"If you don't block it, then they are scared to throw in the dirt, and they leave it out around the belt," Turner said.

"And next thing you know," Synoground added, "you lose."

Synoground has a particularly difficult task in catching Dan Scheibe, whose split-finger fastball is designed to end in the dirt.

"If he got injured, it would be horrible for me," said Scheibe, who has thrown to Synoground for close to a decade and will continue to do so when both play their college ball at Whitworth. "I couldn't throw any splitters. I'd be concerned throwing any sort of offspeed stuff that bites."

Jacobs doesn't like to think about life without Turner, who will be playing his college ball at Walla Walla next spring.

"You couldn't have a better guy step into that (leadership) role," Jacobs said. "He's not a yeller or a screamer, just a hard worker.

"We've had a lot of great catchers at Richland, and he ranks right at the top."

Indeed, Turner and Synoground don't have to take a back seat to anyone at backstop. And if their life behind the plate started in simple fashion -- one too slow to play in the field, one just looking for playing time -- both have blossomed in college-level players. And neither would want to play any other position.

"It's really nice to be involved with every pitch, have an impact on every pitch," Turner said.

"I can't be standing in the outfield," Synoground added, "getting a couple balls every game."

FALCON BAEBALL NOTES - MAY 14, 2011

Just two short weeks ago, the Hanford Falcons were the No. 4 team in the CBBN 3A and playing .500 ball.

Now, after Saturday's 6-3 win over No. 1 Southridge, they are the sub-regional champions and will carry a top seed into next weekend's first round of state play.

Dan Scheibe's fortuitous double with two out in the top of the eighth inning created the winning margin. But it was his Herculean, 140-pitch overtime effort on the mound that carried the Falcons to their first win over Southridge this season.

"That was huge," Hanford senior catcher Chris Synoground said. "It felt amazing. I love beating these guys.

"Nothing's better than this. I know for a fact this is the best league in the state, hands down."

And now the Falcons (14-11) will carry the No. 1 seed into next Saturday's regional round of state games. Hanford faces the No. 5 seed from the KingCo/Metro leagues, which will be determined Tuesday.

That leaves Southridge (19-3) with a familiar foe, facing a first-round matchup with Kamiakin (20-5) after the Braves hammered University 8-0 earlier in the day at Southridge. Kamiakin starter Garrett Anderson faced just two over the minimum and improved to 11-0.

"This wasn't just a game for the (sub-regional) championship. It's seeding," Scheibe said. "That's big. They have to face Kamiakin. They have to face Garrett Anderson, and Kamiakin has to face Southridge."

The regional is slated to be played at Spokane's Avista Stadium. However, with three Tri-Cities team and one from the west side, it is likely to be moved to the Tri-Cities.

It looked like Hanford might have had that date with Kamiakin after the Suns loaded the bases in the seventh.

AJ Henderson led off the frame with a walk before Scheibe got the next two batters to pop up. Spencer O'Neil then drilled the first pitch he saw into center, and the Falcons gave Bryce Jackson an intentional free pass to load 'em up.

That brought up Oz Bartleson, who homered twice in the Suns' playoff win over Kamiakin on Tuesday.

This time, he looped a ball into shallow right that seemed a certain game-winner. But Falcons second baseman Ryan Neal tracked the ball -- held up just a bit by a stiff breeze blowing in -- and hauled it in over his shoulder before niftily dodging a hard-charging Trevor Jones from right field.

"We're losing this game," Hanford coach Tom DeWitz said he was thinking in the dugout after Bartleson made contact. "Ryan Neal made a great play there, the kind of play you have to make to be regional champion."

Where the Falcons came up with the big play, the Suns failed to make the routine.

Hanford had two on and two out in its half of the eighth when Scheibe stepped to the plate. He took the first pitch from Ty Jackson (7-1) for a ball before hitting a fly deep to left, but playable.

As left fielder Mike McAdie was settling under, his feet slipped out from under him and the ball landed 5 feet away.

Both runs scored, and a throwing error allowed Scheibe to come home all the way from second.

With 127 pitches on Scheibe's arm through seven innings, DeWitz already had made the decision to lift his ace for the bottom of the eighth. But Scheibe had other plans.

"When I got that hit and came home to score, I felt, 'OK, give me the ball and let's take care of it,' " he said.

The result was his third straight complete-game win in the playoffs, evening his record at 6-6.

"I made a joke before the playoffs," Scheibe said. "Everyone has a role on the team, and my role is to lose close games."

Not this time.

As for the Suns, whose faces belied the fact they live to fight another day, coach Tim Sanders said this is one they simply have to put behind them.

"You got to forget about it and tip your hats to them," he said. "I thought Scheibe was tough.

"We had opportunities all over the place to make stuff happen. Unfortunately, our defense -- I don't know."

Hanford 102 000 03 -- 6 11 2

Southridge 001 110 00 -- 3 8 1

Dan Scheibe and Chris Synoground; Bryce Jackson, Ty Jackson (6) and Dallas Jones. Highlights--Scheibe (H) 8IP-8H-2ER-6K-3BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Finn McMichael (H) 2x4, R; Ryan Neal (H) 2x4; AJ Hoskins (H) 2B, 2R; Blake Eastman (H) 2x4, R; Matt Mendenhall (S) 2x4, 2B, RBI, R.