Osborne Cardinals Baseball

Busy First Week of Games. Synopsis

    We have now completed the first week of our schedule with a record of 1-2.  We didn't play very good defense against Campbell in the opener and ended up losing 8-3.  Hitting was a bright spot, however, as the team pounded out 10 hits in the loss.

    On Wednesday we traveled to Whitefield Academy for our second game of the season and again pounded the ball for the most part.  Against the Wolfpack, we had a horrible first inning as we gave up 6 unearned runs (all after a two-out error).  Unfortunately we also failed miserably in clutch hitting.  Twice with runners at 2nd and 3rd with less than two outs we failed to drive any runs in.  Our miscues overshadowed some otherwise good defensive plays and we fell 11-4 before the game was called due to darkness after 5 innings.

    The week's games concluded with a victory over Pebblebrook.  The highlight of the game was obviously the pitching of Charles Logan.  In his first high school pitching performance, Charles went the distance while striking out 13 batters and giving up only 3 hits.  The bats cooled off from the first two games, but we put enough balls in play and ran the bases well enough to put 8 runs on the board.  In a terrible event, Kaleb Alexander was lost for the season when he broke his hip and tore several ligaments in his leg while running bases.  He will be sorely missed at the plate, defensively and on the mound.

    Overall, it was a successful first week.  Although our record was 1-2, we did get a chance to see 6 different pitchers in action and our hitting was better than expected.  Martin Logan, Dereck Huiel, and Charles Logan all ended the week with averages of at least .400 and the Logans, Dereck, Kaleb Alexander, and Tyler Shelton all have on base percentages of over .500.  Finally, and most importantly, our players got experience in varsity games.  With a team of 2 seniors, 6 juniors, 7 sophomores, one freshman, and only 3 with significant high school playing experience, that was the most important goal of week one.

    As we move into week 2, with games at Riverwood and Meadowcreek, we expect to keep improving and move into the win column more often.

2011 Osborne Baseball Roster

#                 Grade                           Name                                              

 2                10                                  Tae Hill

 3                10                                  Martin Logan

 7                10                                  Zephaniah Peterson

 8                11                                  Herbert Brabson

10               11                                  Rhashod Holmes

12                9                                  Fernando Cuesta

13               10                                  DJ Tally

15               11                                  Nick Fluker

18               10                                  Austin Maddox

20               11                                  Brandon Salyers

21               12                                  Chaun McKinley

22               12                                  Tyler Shelton

24               10                                  Khalil Hogan

29               11                                  Kaleb Alexander

30               10                                  Charles Logan

32               11                                  Dereck Huiel

 

Coaching Staff-

          Michael Fraker - Head Coach

          Sheldon Bulluck         

          Don Barbee

2011 Schedule is Finalized

Osborne Cardinals Baseball Schedule 2011
Day	Date	Time		Opponent
Tuesday	2/22	5:55		vs Campbell
Wednesday	2/23	4:30		at Whitefield Academy
Thursday	2/24	5:55		vs Pebblebrook
Monday	2/28	5:55		at Riverwood
Friday	3/4	5:30		at Meadowcreek
Tuesday	3/8	5:55		at South Cobb
Thursday	3/10	5:30		vs Meadowcreek
Monday	3/14	5:55		at Alpharetta
Tuesday	3/15	5:55		at Pebblebrook
Friday	3/18	5:55	**	at Paulding County
Wednesday	3/23	5:55	**	at Douglas County
Friday	3/25	5:55	**	vs Hiram
Monday	3/28	5:55	**	at Lithia Springs
Wednesday	3/30	5:55	**	vs Pope
Friday	4/1	5:55	**	vs Chapel Hill
Friday	4/8	5:00		vs South Cobb
Tuesday	4/12	5:55	**	at South Paulding
Friday	4/15	5:55	**	vs Alexander
Monday	4/18	5:55	**	at Sprayberry
Wednesday	4/20	5:55	**	vs North Paulding
Friday	4/22	5:55	**	at Kell
Tuesday	4/26	5:55	**	vs East Paulding
Friday	4/29	5:55	**	at Villa Rica
May 6th-30th		State Playoffs
**   Denotes Region Games

Tryouts begin on Monday, January 31st.

Baseball tryouts begin on Monday January 31st immediately after school.  In order to tryout any student must have a current Cobb County physical form and meet all GHSA eligibility requirements.  If you are planning to tryout, you should see Coach Fraker as soon as possible.

The Season is Just Around the Corner

As we return to school in January, it gets obvious that the baseball season is just around the corner.  All off-season conditioning and 2 on one work continues from now until January 31st.  Conditioning is at the field and in the batting cages every Monday-Thursday from 3:45-5:00.  All players are strongly encouraged to attend each of the sessions so that they will be in optimum baseball shape when tryouts start on January 31st.   

Meadowcreek 3/16

     We can now call it a streak!  Three wins in a row and even more importantly about 5 very well played games in a row. 

     Last night against Meadowcreek we had another great night out of Nick Fluker on the mound.  He went the entire five innings and scattered four hits in the game.  Our defense also played very well with zero errors, one turned double play, and several balls to the outfield that Dereck Huiel made look very easy with his confidence appearing to grow every day. 

     At the plate, it was the Kyle Middleton show.  He again made an out to lead off the game, but then went 3 for 3 afterwards including a beautiful bunt single down the third base line, an absolute bomb well over the left field fence to start the big seven-run fifth, and a double to the left-center gap to drive home the final run and end the game.  Demetrius Campbell also had a solid 2 for 3 night as he scored one run and drove in two others.  OJ Gibson led the way on the bases with two stolen bases and scored a run when the catcher threw the ball away on his steal of third. 

     Other bright spots were Leo Rojas and Chaun McKinley showing more signs of breaking out of early season slumps.  Leo hit the ball hard all night in his 1 for 3 performance, and Chaun had the at-bat of the season.  Down 0-2 in the count, he proceeded to foul of pitch after pitch until finally hitting a single up the middle to drive in a run on the 13th pitch he saw.

     Next up is our first region game on Monday 3/22 at Allatoona.

A very rainy week

Last week wasn't the best for baseball.  We opened the week with an excellent performance in a 9-3 victory over Campbell, and then just sat for the rest of the week.  Rain moved in on Tuesday night and led to cancellations against Whitefield Academy on Wednesday and North Springs on Friday.  This week we only have one game scheduled, against Meadowcreek on Tuesday.  With the region schedule starting next Monday, we will probably have at least one intersquad scrimmage later in the week.

March 8th, 2010 Update

    We have now completed just over 2 weeks of the season and things are certainly looking up.  After a blown lead against Douglas County and losing big late against Whitefield Academy, things have turned much better.  We played well but lost to South Cobb 2-5.  In our double header trip to Jackson County we hit very well against our hosts, but they found more holes and were able to top us in the first game.  In the second game, against East Jackson, we scrapped and clawed and came up with a big 7th inning homer by Xavier Robles to pull out the first win of the season, 5-4, in come behind and then hang on fashion. 

    Tonight we had arch rival Campbell on the schedule and played very well.  Nick Fluker earned his second win of the season with a complete game 8 strikout performance.  The hitting was very balanced as every starter scored except Chaun McKinley, but he was still able to get in on the act with an RBI of his own.  Defense was led by Kyle Middleton who continued his solid season with two spectacular plays worthy of SportsCenter.  The complete team effort paid off with a solid 9-3 victory.

     Next up we play a rematch at Whitefield Academy on Wednesday and then travel to North Springs on Friday.

1st Week Results

    Well the results for the first week of play were not exactly what we had hoped for as we lost to both Douglas County and Whitefield Academy.  In the Douglas County game we had excellent hitting and a good first start of the season for sophomore pitcher Nick Fluker.  Unfortunately the wheels fell off in the top of the 7th to waste Fluker's effort and we lost our lead.  Against Whitefield we didn't hit, and didn't play very good defensively.  Pitching again fell apart late and a close game became a blowout.  On the positive side, our younger players have all gotten involved in varsity play now and should be able to settle in for future outings.  This week we have a JV game against South Cobb scheduled for Wednesday and then Varsity games Thursday at South Cobb and a trip to the east for a Saturday double header against Jackson County and East Jackson.

Osborne Vs Campbell game

Unfortunately, this season seems to be picking up where last season ended weather-wise.  Tuesday's game at Campbell has been postponed due to rain and sloppy field conditions at Ward Park.  The game has been rescheduled to be played on Tuesday, March 9th at 5:55.  Now our season opener will be played this Thursday, February 25th, at home against the Douglas County Tigers.