Mercer???? WTF?

One Man to Beat, his wife and I were thoroughly disgusted with the defensive effort of the Rebels today. The Rebels fell 13-11, and they looked like they were lost defensively.

After getting up 11-6, the Rebel defense gave up 7 unanswered runs. Yesterday, the bullpen was the strength of the team, and today the bullpen was awful. That compounded with poor fielding spelled disaster.

THREE ERRORS? Beside the three errors, Jordan Henry dropped a ball in center field that was ruled a hit. Absolutely pitiful on the defensive side of the ball.

THE GOOD:

-Brett Basham was really good at and behind the plate. Not only did he throw a runner out, he went three for five with a three run homer.
-Logan Power was also good at the plate with a MONSTER two run shot that traveled at least 400 feet over the left field wall.
-Matt Smith has much better plate discipline this season and has shown the ability to take the ball to opposite field. He only had one hit today, but he looks much better at the plate.
-Overall, the team has shown much better plate discipline.

THE BAD:

-The team didn't show much motivation or desire for victory. In the eighth and ninth innings, they finally had some yelling and shouting going on from the players in the dugout. It seemed like a heartless effort.
-Matt Smith and Jordan Henry went a combined 2-9.

THE UGLY:

-3 errors? My goodness... When it really mattered, our infield did not have the ability to make the plays or communicate. Button dropped a force out that was thrown to him at third, Corrigan made an error throwing to first and Basham was called for an error by being called for catcher interference.
-Our bullpen was atrocious. David Goforth WALKED in the go ahead run. They allowed seven runs overall (5 earned).


Random notes:

Scott Bittle was not even dressed out until the ninth inning when he was sent to the bullpen.

This team has a large following, and there was a great crowd there to support the Rebels.

Taylor Hightower made his first appearance as a Rebel by pinch running for Brett Basham.