Charles Fischer

The “Prodigal Duckling” returns!

Down 0-3 last night to come back to win 11-4, and down 3-6 today to start the eighth inning, and the Ducks put up five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Duck closer Kolby Somers, the pride of Hillsboro, shut down the Utes in the top of the ninth for the save and the 8-6 win! Bring out the brooms, and let’s go for a sweep tomorrow! 11:00 AM Start! Recap: Oregon baseball uses five-run eighth inning to defeat Utah 8-6 in Eugene PAC-12.COM Oregon baseball defeats Utah by a final score of 8-6 on Saturday, March 19 in Eugene. The Ducks improve to 12-6 overall and 4-1 in Pac-12 play, while the Utes fall to 11-6-1 and 2-3 in conference... Above is a summary video with highlights from the Pac-12 Network!

Stevie Hansen got the win and Raegan Breedlove got the save!

C'mon Ducks!

In retrospect, I recall that coach and others explaining of how the Oregon coaching staff would have "open" times in February where you could come by and visit, and the Coaches Clinic was in March. Perhaps that got moved to March/April and his post on the other site was about his recent visit? I have no explanation...since I cannot attend them anymore. However I will yield to your proof...:)

I think what Axel wrote and this thread was FAR more entertaining than the game itself! Thanks to all...

Well, a coach I know wrote about it on another site, so…?

When I see players batting and pitching SO MUCH better than last year, when they were occasional contributors last year and now they are a star? Some GREAT player development and coaching taking place! This batting is the opposite of what we saw from George Horton, and this was best start to a season by Utah in 30 years. Oregon took on their best pitcher and prevailed! Now if the Ducks could get their starting pitchers established and rolling--it would be ideal!

Thanks!

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon belted three two-run home runs including two in the fifth inning en route to an 11-4 Pac-12 Conference win over Utah on Friday night at PK Park. Brennan Milone hit his fourth homer of the season in the bottom of the third inning to give Oregon (11-6, 3-1 Pac-12) the lead after the Ducks trailed by three runs earlier in the game. Anthony Hall belted his first home run and Gavin Grant his fourth homer, both coming in the fifth inning, to help Oregon break the game open. How It Happened: Utah (11-5-1, 2-2 Pac-12) jumped on Oregon starter RJ Gordon in the second inning, building a 3-0 lead. The Ducks cut into the lead with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Josh Kasevich led off the inning and moved to third on a Hall double before scoring on a Sam Novitske RBI ground out. Hall made it 3-2 scoring on a Jack Scanlon sacrifice fly. Oregon took the lead with two more runs in the third. Milone blasted his first home run since Feb. 26, scoring Tanner Smith who reached on a hit-by-pitch earlier in the inning. Utah threatened to regain the lead in the top of the fourth. After getting a ground out to open the inning, Gordon walked the next three batters he faced to load the bases, forcing the Ducks to go to the bullpen. Dylan Sabia struck out the first batter he faced and got a ground out against the next hitter to get out of the inning without allowing a run. The team exchanged runs in the bottom of the fourth and the top of the fifth. Milone picked up his third RBI of the game in the fourth, singling home Smith. Leading 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, the Ducks broken it open behind the big bats of Hall and Grant. After Kasevich led off the inning with a walk, Hall blasted his first home run of the season giving Oregon a 7-4 lead. With Scanlon on first after he was hit by a pitch, Hall blasted another home run putting the Ducks up 9-4. Freshman Jacob Walsh added a RBI single later in the inning, scoring Colby Shade who doubled on batter after Grant’s home run. Oregon tacked on a final run in the sixth. Hall led off the inning with a single and came around to score on a Shade bases-loaded walk. Box Score Notes: The Ducks scored in double figures for the seventh time this season … Oregon’s 14 hits marked the 12th time the Ducks have had double-digit hits this season, including the last six games … Oregon has outscored its opponents 24-9 in the fifth inning this season … Logan Mercado (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) picked up his first win of the season … Four Ducks had multiple hits, while three Ducks had multiple RBI … Every Duck starter had a hit, except Scanlon who was hit by two pitches … Those two HBP gave Scanlon 21 for his career, moving him into a tie for eighth all-time with Jakob Goldfarb (2017-19) … Walsh extended his reached base streak to 15 games. Up Next: The Ducks and Utes meet in game two of the series at PK Park on Saturday with a 3:05 p.m. first pitch. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Oregon. They said it: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski “Anthony Hall was fantastic. The offense for the first five innings of that game was really, really good. I thought we let them off the hook in that one bases loaded situation, where we only got one in the sixth. It was a great five in the fifth inning. That was tough one, because in the top of the fifth after we scored one in the bottom of the fourth, they came back and did a nice job and got a two-out single to get a run on the board. I thought that was big on their part, especially with the beginning of the game, they had opportunity after opportunity with runners on and so that game could have ended a lot differently. The offense was relentless and it was really nice to see our kids battle at the plate.” Anthony Hall – On his first home run of the season “It feels good to get the first one out of the way, it’s always the hardest. It’s about time that happened. I was looking for a fastball and just trying to barrel it up. Keep it simple. I started out a little rough this year, so I was trying to keep it simple.” Brennan Milone – On rallying from an early deficit “That is all we pretty much talked about. You can probably even hear (assistant coach Jack) Marder from the stands saying ‘get on this inning’. That is pretty much all we do, we are always on the inning we are in, it doesn’t matter what the score is – whether we are up 10 to zero or down 10 to zero – we are just focused on that inning and putting the best at bats we can out there. Usually things will start to come together when you do that.”

I am disappointed there was not a press release addressing it, so we have heard nothing.

Way to go Pac-12! (68-66 Canes) This really isn't Southern Cal's sport...

No problem, as we are Ducks!

They should have been in the NCAA Tournament losing eight SEC games in a row? After NIT win, Buzz Williams blasts NCAA selection committee for Texas A&M's Big Dance snub SPORTS.YAHOO.COM At the end of Williams’ news conference Tuesday night, he distributed to reporters nine pages of his own research on why Texas A&M deserved a bid.

I remember Gregory when he was here, and the defensive stats quoted in this article would work JUST FINE next year with an improved offense. This is a darn-good analyst to have! Defensive coach Bob Gregory will return to Eugene as an analyst DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM According to On3.com, Dan Lanning has hired former Oregon DB coach Bob Gregory as an analyst.

I would like to think that money created this, and things will ultimately get changed because of money. Too many smaller schools will have NO chance to compete, and could opt out of all sports. This would reduce the number of scholarships for women by the thousands nationally, and I believe we would see a Court case on behalf of all the women about to lose their chance at a college education while playing Lacrosse, or running hurdles, etc. Schools KNOW that athletics bring donations for academic purposes as well, and thus cannot reduce all sports to "Club" status. Too many people will miss out with the new "Wild-West" because of money, thus I've gotta think that reasonable change is in the future. But not soon. Someday they'll accept less for NIL...

Made my day AGAIN!

It is an interesting question because all of us believe that if it is not stopped from its current form--it will ruin college football. The owner of one of the pay-sites was lamenting that the Ducks cannot match the crazy offers of NIL like what Nico got, (8 million) but we can do enough to still have a top recruiting class. It was compared to a Moneyball scenario where upside analysis of players becomes even more crucial. His example was quarterbacks, as there are a ton left for 2023 that will not have the extreme NIL cost, but could very well end up as good as the most highly ranked QBs. He said that in the bidding....Oregon is not like the Oakland A's, but is also not like the Yankees. And fortunately, there are many players looking at the big picture of their future, their development, their relationship with their position coach...in addition to some NIL. Eventually, public outcry will demand change, but that won't be for a while. In the meantime, I do think Oregon can compete because all that money spent in the past on "Building Brand" is going to pay off and buy us some time before changes are made. I'm sticking to my "enjoy it for three years," but it may go longer, and perhaps the worst will NOT happen. That is my Duck fantasy, and I'm sticking to it! For some....this will do.

More about some of the players! Over .500 in On-Base-Percentage? Whew! Step up in Competition Doesn't Slow Cowley After spending three seasons at Division II Cal Poly Pomona, JR INF Drew Cowley made the move to Division I this season. Playing both third base and second base, Cowley is off to a blistering start batting .467 (21-for-45) with the nation's 13th-best OBP (.571). He also ranks 16th nationally in batting average, and 35th in slugging percentage (.822). In addition to batting average and on-base percentage, he leads the team in slugging percentage and base on balls (9), while ranking second in doubles (5). In the Pac-12, Cowley leads the league in two of the three slash categories (AVG/OBP), while ranking second in slugging percentage and 10th in RBI and home runs. It's HOT in the Shade After battling injuries early in the season as a true freshman, SO OF Colby Shade is healthy and producing for the Ducks in 2022. The Ducks' centerfield produced in a big way in the St. John's series, batting a team-best .667 (8-for-12) with a home run, three doubles, nine RBI and nine runs. He added four walks and three HBPs to finish with a .789 on-base percentage while slugging 1.167. He also reached base in 13 straight plate appearances during the series. For the season, Shade is tied for the team lead in RBI (17) and stolen bases (4), while ranking second on the team batting .429 (21-of-49), runs scored (18), OBP (.525) and slugging percentage (.694). In the Pac-12, Shade ranks fourth in batting average, RBI and OBP, while ranking sixth in slugging percentage and seventh in runs scored. Nationally, Shade is 51st in the country in batting average, 62nd in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Somers Named Preseason All-America Coming off a season where he claimed NCBWA third-team All-America honors, SR LHP Kolby Somers has been named preseason third-team All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and D1Baseball. A senior from Hillsboro, Ore., Somers claimed first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors in addition to NCBWA All-America honors last season. He was dominant closing out games for the Ducks in 2021. The lefty finished the season with a 2-2 record and a 3.08 ERA with 11 saves. He fanned 37 in 26.1 innings pitched while holding opposing hitters to a .149 batting average. He ranked third in the Pac-12 in saves, as well as ranking sixth all-time in single-season saves at Oregon. His seven saves in conference games were the second most in the league, one behind the leader.

I know everyone is saying that these stats are padded from some of our opponents....but we did not do this in the past! Others say, "wait for the Pac-12 Season, and watch those stats plummet!" Oregon took two of three at Stanford last weekend, who was voted by the coaches as the Preseason BEST team in the conference. The Ducks averaged nearly nine runs per game against a Cardinal staff that had an incredibly low ERA going into the series. The Ducks were a good hitting team last year, and have continued that trend--even with the graduation of Aaron Zavala, and Gabe Matthews (and others!) thus good coaching in the batter box is happening. (No, it is extraordinary coaching taking place) The pitchers are improving, and if they can keep us in the games, our bats can win them. Utah won two of three off of Washington last week, so the Ducks have a challenge! This is the prowess you want...

(Will Graves plays for Gonzaga) PORTLAND — Mary Graves woke on Thursday morning in Eugene, fed the dogs, and pointed her black SUV toward Portland. She made the two-hour drive alone, dropped in on her father at his home near NW 23rd Ave. and together they headed to Moda Center for Gonzaga’s opening-round NCAA Tournament game. Lunch was a hot dog. The seats were in Section 122, a dozen or so rows directly behind the Zags’ bench. They watched No. 1-seed Gonzaga beat No. 16 Georgia State 93-72 and in the final 48 seconds it got especially interesting. Walk-on guard Will Graves checked into the game. We’re told March is made for Madness. We’re sold fairy tales and shining moments. But on Thursday I observed Mary as the horn sounded to end the game. She trained her eyes on her son and he scanned the crowd to locate her with the post-game scene cascading like confetti all around them. They waved at each other. He grinned. She teared up. “I wish we could have hugged,” mom said. Will Graves and his mother, Mary. Will Graves was just 14 months old when the doctors noticed he wasn’t reaching his milestones. He hadn’t walked or crawled. He couldn’t sit up correctly. “Hypotonia,” doctors said. Will had low muscle tone. There would be years of physical therapy appointments. He’d eventually grow strong like his two older brothers, Max and Jack. The three boys would all gravitate toward the family business — basketball. “Will and I were buddies during those early years,” his mom said. “We were like best friends doing physical therapy together. Maybe it’s because he’s the baby of the family but we had a blast while he grew up.” Kelly Graves was 2,500 miles away when his son Will checked into the first-round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday. The University of Oregon women’s basketball team is a No. 5 seed in the women’s bracket and will play No. 12 Belmont on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. Would Mary go on the road with the Ducks in the first round? Or head to Portland to support Gonzaga and her youngest son? I asked the UO coach this week. The answer came: “What do you think big guy?” Kelly and Mary Graves and their three sons. Will, far left, is on Gonzaga’s team. Will Graves wasn’t born in Spokane, Wash. but it’s where he spent the first 14 years of his life. His dad coached the Gonzaga women’s team and Will became fast friends with a group of boys that included Mark Few’s son. “They’re great family friends,” Mary said, “and Will can still call on them for a family meal.” Graves played basketball at South Eugene High. After that he attended Lane Community College. He’s 6-foot-5 and could have picked a small college — a place he could get ample minutes and more shots. But Will Graves wanted to play for what would become the top basketball team in America. He wanted to be a ‘Zag. “Gonzaga was all he ever wanted when he was little,” Mary said. “When Mark (Few) asked him to walk on he said, ‘Mom it’s my dream.’ He didn’t didn’t know where it would lead him but he had to try. “This is meant to be.” Graves averaged just two minutes a game this season. He took 10 total shots, nine of them threes. The records will show that he scored 11 points in the regular season. But if you’re looking at the box score to define Will Graves’ college basketball season, your eyes are aimed in the wrong direction. He’s the first off the bench after a big shot by a teammate. He clapped, shouted and cheered from the sideline on Thursday. And when Few motioned for him to check into the game in that final minute Will Graves ripped off his warm-up and bounced toward the scorer’s table. Said Will: “I wouldn’t trade my experiences here for anything.” I asked Will this week if he could identify the traits he got from his parents. He called his mother “the rock of the family” and pointed to how much she cares for others. He said his dad taught him competition and the love of basketball. “He introduced it to me at a very young age and I’ve been in love with it since I can remember,” said Will. Over the years the Graves boys, along with their father, often played spirited pick-up games in the driveway. During the pandemic they worked together to film funny videos and practice trick shots. Max, 26, works for a non-profit in Baltimore that uses soccer to bring joy and growth to children in the world. Jack, 25, is an assistant women’s basketball coach at Lane Community College. And there’s Will, 22, who is chasing a national title with his teammates this month. “It’s just so fun to see them all so close,” Mary said. Will Graves averaged two minutes per game this season. Will is a senior with one year of college eligibility left. He plans to transfer after this season to a college where he’ll play more. He’s not sure where, yet. “I have gotten so much better in my three years here going against NBA guys day in and day out,” he said. On Thursday at Moda Center in that final minute of play Will checked in, touched the ball on one possession, dribbled a couple of times and made a single pass. The horn sounded. The game ended. Gonzaga advanced to the second round and he scanned the crowd looking for his mother and grandfather. This tournament will crown a champion. Confetti will be shot out of cannons and nets will be cut down. Maybe it will be Gonzaga. Maybe some other team. But it’s not lost on me that the beauty of March Madness often comes in the best of forms. A son’s smile. A mother’s tears. “I love my kids all the same,” Mary said, “but he’s my baby.”

Yep, and volunteer sites are free, but need help…?

Agreed, and that is why I like to follow some recruiting and pass it along here, but not go too crazy about it. "Nico" put out his top-5 this week, and since Oregon is in it...we're supposed to get excited? No, everyone knows he will "follow the 8-million" to Knoxville.

I guess that subscription thing did not work out? Canzano's website has not worked the last couple of days, but he sends me articles via his initial free subscription. I will post them until he has a pay-wall, and I have to admit that he is a prolific writer who often has some entertaining things to say. Nemec? Not so much to me... Is FishDuck and the OBD forum the best value ever?