Robservations: Pioneers can spoil ‘Boro party
“It’s suicide! You’ve seen him, you know how strong he is. You can’t win!”
“Nobody tells the truth, Adrian. No, maybe I can’t win. Maybe the only thing I can do is take everything he’s got. But to beat me, he’s gonna have to kill me. And to kill me, he’s gonna have to have the heart to stand in front of me. And to do that, he’s gotta be willing to die himself. I don’t know if he’s ready to do that… I don’t know.”
Adrian (Talia Shire) and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), “Rocky IV”
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There’s a line separating the unbeatable front-runners from the also-rans this year in the District 7-AAA baseball race. It’s called the Rutherford County line.
Those three stellar squads from Murfreesboro — Blackman, Oakland and Riverdale — are locked at the top of the league standings heading into each team’s final series. They’ve all clinched high seeds in the upcoming league tournament, with Warren County, Cookeville, White County and Lebanon rounding out the rest of the standings.
Sunday, the Pioneers get the chance to pull out one of those old standard clich?s, and “play the role of spoiler.”
Warren County takes on Riverdale this Sunday on the road, and plays host to the Warriors in Monday’s Senior Night tilt. And while the Pioneers can’t leap into the top spot in the 7-AAA standings with a split, or even with a sweep, they can remind the Warriors and the rest of the league of a valuable lesson.
Seeds are for the birds.
With this week’s two-game sweep of White County, the Pioneers did exactly what they were supposed to do: Win two games they were supposed to win.
But, hopefully, they did something more. Hopefully, they gathered up a little bit of momentum that they can carry into Sunday’s game.
Sure, they’ll be facing a Riverdale team that has only suffered one district loss this season. And they’ll be taking on a Warrior squad that has been mentioned as one of the best in the midstate, at a road venue that historically draws a ton of fan support.
But they’ll also be facing a Riverdale team on Sunday that could very likely be smarting from a Saturday loss to crosstown rival Oakland. Of course, the devil’s advocate in me realizes a Warrior win will have them on an all-time high when the Pioneers come calling, but just this once, let’s root for the Patriots, shall we?
Despite the odds against them, a good showing against the Warriors in this final district series can be nothing but a positive boost for the Pioneers as they gear up for the district tournament.
Put up two good fights, and they’ve proven they can hold their own against one of the league’s most solid teams — much like they did earlier this year in a 4-1 loss to Blackman and its ace pitcher, David Price.
Win one of the two games — or (dare we dream?) pull off the sweep — and they’ve proven to themselves, as well as to the rest of the league, that there’s a reason games are played on grass, and not on paper.
And in doing so, they’ll give themselves even more momentum as they head into crunch time, and hopefully show the elite Rutherford County squads something along the way.
No one is unbeatable, no matter where they’re from. And the Pioneers have the opportunity to prove that, as well as prove that being elite can get you a long way, but it can’t necessarily get you to a title.