I find that one of the best ways to get over stress or bad news – really anything that brings me down – is to get busy. Work helps me focus, plus each little thing checked off my mental to-do list shoots a little dopamine into my brain. Success builds on success, achievements begin to snowball, and suddenly I find my steps are full of pep. Then, when I’m feeling good, I often find myself ready to tackle whatever it was that brought me down in the first place. I call it the “Karate Kid” effect:
- Get yourself stomped by a bunch of bullies.
- Go wash some cars, paint a fence, sand a floor.
- Kick some Cobra Kai butt and win the Under-18 All-Valley Karate Tournament
- Rinse and repeat.
This is relevant for the Towson Tigers because, starting tomorrow, they get to play five games in six days and playing some baseball is probably the best way to rinse the taste of this past weekend’s sweep out of their mouths. As I wrote yesterday, there were positives to build upon, and as they say, mistakes are nothing but opportunities to get better. It’s time to kick some butt.
The Watch List
Richie Palacios, SS – .380/.516/.700, 3 home runs, 19 doubles, 17 runs, 12 RBI, 5-5 stolen bases. Palacios continues to be superlative with the bat; he’s walked nearly twice as many times as he’s struck out (13 to 7). After going 0-4 on Friday, he responded with five hits in his next eight at bats, scoring six runs and stealing three bases in the final two games of the series. One area we do need to watch is defense, as he’s made four errors so far.
Andrew Cassard, OF – .275/.370/.300, 9 runs, 5 RBI. The only thing that’s really holding back Cassard’s game right now is power, as the outfielder has only one double on the season. Against Ohio he reached base six times and scored four runs in three games. I expect him to stay at the top of the line-up for the foreseeable future.
Dirk Masters, 2B – .314/.467/.343, 6 runs, 3 RBI, 2-2 stolen bases. Saturday was Masters worst game of the season, 0-4 with two strikeouts, but that was sandwiched between two solid performances. On Friday he went 2-3 with a walk and added another hit and a walk on Sunday. Like Cassard, Masters has only a double as his lone extra base hit, but his batting eye is impressive (nine walks to only seven strikeouts on the season). He also continues to play excellent defense at second and has yet to make an error this year.
Bo Plagge, OF/DH – .400/.550/.600. Plagge had a rough series versus the Bobcats. Friday he started at DH and batted clean-up, but went 0-5. There is still a lot to like about his game offensively, with only three strikeouts in 20 plate appearances this season.
Bo Plagge, P – 9.31 ERA, 9.2 innings, 10 walks, 10 strikeouts. Control issues caught up to Plagge on Saturday, walking four batters and throwing wild pitch as he gave up four runs that were charged to starter David Marriggi, plus three of his own, in 2.1 innings. There is still clearly potential here though and he continues to get consistent work.
David Marriggi, P – 4.66 ERA, 19.1 innings, 15 walks, 18 strikeouts. Marriggi was having another solid start, giving up four hits and no walks or runs through the first three innings of Saturday’s game. But Ohio got to him in the fourth for three runs and he left in the fifth after facing four batters and retiring none. All four would later score and the lefty was hit with seven runs (six earned) in four innings of official work. It was the first time this season Marriggi didn’t finish the fifth. On the plus side, he only walked two, after walking 11 in his two previous starts, and he has only given up two extra base hits (both doubles) all season.
Up Next
- Tuesday, March 13, 3:00 P.M. at Delaware State University.
- Wednesday, March 14, 3:00 P.M. versus UMBC at Schuerholz Park
- Friday-Sunday, March 16-18, versus Marist at Schuerholz Park. Friday’s game is a 3:00 P.M. start, both weekend games begin at 1:00 P.M.
- No streaming video is set for any of these games, but I’ll follow and post recaps to the best of my ability. Sunday is my birthday and I’ll be at the ballpark with my family in tow, so look for some photos and video from that one.
