East Cobb, Midland Game 2 log

Starting lineups:

Redskins (visitor)
1. Eric Hosmer (1B)
2. T.J. Jones (2B)
3. Zack Cox (3B)
4. Josh Richmond (CF)
5. Cory Farris (RF)
6. James McCann (C)
7. Brent Warren (LF)
8. Deven Marrero (SS)
9. David Lyon (DH)
Walker Kelly (P)

Yankees (home)
1. Jonathan Taylor (CF)
2. Evan Martin (RF)
3. Kyle Farmer (2B)
4. Matt Skole (3B)
5. Jason Stolz (SS)
6. Brandon Miller (DH)
7. Jarrett Didrick (LF)
8. Jake Davies (1B)
9. Spencer Kieboom (C)
Adam Morgan (P)

For the second time tonight, the Redskins left the bases full in the top of the first inning. Midland had the sacks packed with one out, but Morgan got Farris swinging and McCann to bounce out to third.

This game is starting out much like the first. After a missed scoring opportunity for the Redskins, the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the first when left-hander Matt Skole poked an RBI double to the gap in left-center to score Jonathan Taylor.

After an inning of play, it's 1-0 Yanks.

Walker Kelly just got the hook for Michael Nastold after 1 1-3 innings. The Yankees have made it a 2-0 game and have Didrick at second base with one out.

Pretty quiet game, but let's pass along an update. It remains 2-0 East Cobb, whose starting pitcher, Adam Morgan, is dealing. Morgan, a lefty, has six strikeouts through four innings. Midland just can't get much going against him. Crisp game, thus far, but with these two talented clubs, offense isn't far away.

Perhaps the best at-bat of the week just came from Jake Davies, the EC first baseman. After fouling off five Nastold pitches with two strikes, Davies turned on an inside fastball and ripped a two-run shot over the wall in right field to give the Yankees a 4-0 edge.

Also, here's a link to the story from last night's somewhat controversial contest between East Cobb and the Arizona Firebirds.

http://www.daily-times.com/sports/ci_10136734

Ladies ang gentlemen, the fifth-inning stretch courtesy of Harry Caray. "Stand, stretch and sing along," PA guy Kim Carpenter just implored the fans. And they responded. I love that.

Oh, the game. That's right. Hosmer made it 4-1 with an RBI single in the top of the fifth, but Morgan did a great job avoiding further trouble.

That champagne is probably going on the ice about now. Probably not considering these guys are all 16, 17 and 18 years old, but that's my way of working some alcohol into the conversation. In any regard, the Yankees are six outs away from a national championship, which would be their fifth since 1999. Something we haven't touched on much is the Yankees' ... well, odd streak. They won the World Series in 1999, 2001, 2003 and '05. This would be their first even-year championship. We'll call it Even Stephen. No we won't, because that would be stupid.

And Cory Farris has just made it a two-run EC lead with a solo blast that may or may not have landed yet. If it did, it's in Bloomfield. T.J. Rich just replaced Morgan on the bump. Heck of a job by Morgan, who fanned eight in five-plus innings. He gave up two earned runs on six hits.

The Minnesota Twins beat the Royals 4-1 tonight. That's fantastic. Those are my boys. They don't know it yet, but we're pretty tight. And newsflash: Brett Favre has just been traded to the Jets. I didn't even know he was thinking about coming out of retirement. Why didn't ESPN cover this story?

Just to be safe, we're going to sign off here. It's going to the top of the seventh with the Yankees leading 4-2. Three more outs, and that's a wrap. It's getting late so I'm going to head down to the field. We'll update the Daily Times Web site once we get back to the office. And check out Saturday's paper for a complete recap from tonight's action.

By the way, Hosmer is leading off the top of the seventh. Could be interesting.