The Little Giants cometh
Don’t blame them if they, like Jim Critzer said, celebrated like they just won a state title. This was Turner Ashby, after all, the Valley’s version of baseball’s Evil Empire.
Don’t blame them one bit for celebrating the win on the hallowed ground of Ray Heatwole field. That’s no disrespect to the Knights, actually it’s the ultimate respect one team can give another, you know, celebrating a regular-season, non-district win like it was a World Series clincher. That just goes to show you how high opposing teams hold Turner Ashby, because everybody knows, if you want to have your school’s name even whispered in any state-title discussion in Group AA, you have to beat the Knights.
And the Little Giants did that Monday night, somehow managing to put aside three homers off starter Joseph Lucas, who managed top get out of two innings with the tying runner on base (the second and the seventh, folks) to give Waynesboro its first win over Turner Ashby in, well, as long as Critzer can remember.
“He kept his composure,“ Critzer said.
We’ve talked about swagger enough times when it comes to this team that nobody would blame you if you were tired of hearing about it. “Swagger?“ you say. Well that’s what Critzer wanted from his team at the start of the season, when errors were being put up almost more than runs by the Giants. That’s all stopped and Critzer prefers to call it heart and character these days. Good on him.
Because heart and character is what it takes (plus talent, which the Little Giants have plenty of) to put up five runs in the fourth inning against Turner Ashby. Heart and character is what it takes to look into a player’s eyes and hold up the proverbial glass of water and ask them what they see.
“And they all say it’s half full,“ Critzer said. “It’s a positive answer, not a negative one.“
Heart and character bring the right adjustments, evident after Kyle Craun crushed a two-run jack in the fifth to close the gap to 6-4 in favor of the Little Giants. The Knights, Critzer said, picked up on Lucas’ fastball, “Something good teams do.“
“I was at third and I told Craun, ‘You picked up on that fast ball,‘ “ Waynesboro’s skipper said. “ ‘Wait until you see what you see next time.‘ “
So Lucas threw him that looping curve when the two faced off again in the bottom of the seventh with the tying run at first. Craun popped up for the second out.
End. Of. Story. Heart. And. Character.
Know what else shows heart? How about watching Craun’s two-run shot whittle your lead down to two, then having your best hitter (albeit a hitter that’s been struggling as of late) Jay Thompson come up the next inning and blast a solo shot for some breathing room. Yeah, that’s heart.
Know what shows character? The bottom of the lineup coming through as of late. After an abysmal performance against Stuarts Draft a few weeks ago (remember, when Cook struck out the No. 6, 7 and 8 hitters every time they took to the plate), Stevie Moreland, Derek Hall and Will Freeman have been producing.
“Here in the last four or five games, they’re coming around,“ Critzer said.
That’s not the only thing coming around. As a whole, the Little Giants seem to be as well.
And another thing: Ready to mention Waynesboro when you start talking about good Group AA teams? You should be.
The bottom line here is all this is on Critzer, who took a varsity program after years of coaching the JV team and has built it into a program. (There’s a difference here between “team” and “program” folks. Most high school’s have baseball “teams,“ few—like Turner Ashby—have “programs.“) When Critzer was JV coach his team beat Turner Ashby. He finally got that ‘W’ with his varsity boys.
Um, does anybody remember when you were all calling for Critzer’s head when he first took the job? Remember? Come on, of course you do. So, where you at now, huh?
The best part about it is Critzer refuses to take credit, instead tossing the credit on his “kids” and the coaches he surrounded himself with. Yeah, but those coaches wouldn’t be here if Critzer wasn’t the head coach and, let’s be honest, the Little Giants wouldn’t be here either, you know, sitting atop the Southern Valley District with a Region III berth already wrapped up and their back pockets. And, you know, having finally beaten Turner Ashby.
So, yeah, are you still calling for his head? You know, just like you did for Secrett Stubblefield and, oh, I don’t know, Jackie Bryan over at Wilson. Just asking.
Meanwhile, in Waynesboro (you know, it’s 471.04 miles from Churchill Downs): Did you hear that sound? That was an era ending at Waynesboro High School. And next year just won’t be the same without Ed Driskill. Just ask anybody involved with Waynesboro track. Go ahead, ask them. We’ll wait.
Did you ask them yet?
