Fox Baseball Heating Up As It Heads Down Home Stretch Of 2012 Season

FOX SENIOR HIGH -- When Fox High head baseball coach Neil Richardson assesses how the Warriors 2012 season has been going, he can't help but feel that if just a couple of breaks had gone his club's way, and maybe if his team had executed a little better in a couple of other situations, the Warriors might have an entirely different kind of season this year.

"It started with those first two games of the season," Richardson said. "We had a ball barely get by our second baseman in one game, and then we couldn't catch a fly ball for the final out in another. Next thing you know, we're 0-2, instead of 2-0, and feeling a lot better about ourselves."

Those first two losses then ballooned to five defeats in Fox's first six games, and then eight in the team's first 11 games, for a 3-8 mark that no one expected for the Warriors when the season began.

"We knew we might have some growing pains working in so many young guys with our seniors," Richardson said. "But we've got some great senior leaders, and we also felt that we'd get it together at some point during the season."

That getting it together point may have come last weekend, when Fox nabbed its two most thrilling wins of the season, in back-to-back victories over neighborhood rival Northwest High.

Last Thursday, behind a one-hit pitching effort by senior Tylar Blankenship and a four-RBI day at the plate by fellow senior Brendan Grelle, which included his team-leading third home run of the season, the Warriors bombed Northwest 10-0.

Then on Saturday, Fox trailed Northwest 6-4 going into the seventh inning, but rallied for two runs to send the game to extra innings, then added four more runs in the eighth, for a rousing 10-6 comeback victory over the Lions, that might have been the most exciting win of the season for Richardson and his crew.

"I tell you it was great to see us down in a situation like that, but still have the heart in us to keep fighting," Richardson said. "We've had some things go against us, but these kids are tough and they just battle through."

Numbers-wise, no one would ever know Fox had trouble winning games during the early part of the season.

Heading into this week, the Warriors have five players hitting .400 or better, including senior first baseman Ryan Drysdale, who leads the team with a .526 batting average and a .737 slugging percentage.

"Ryan's having a great year," Richardson said. "He's just been scorching the ball all year. I haven't looked at his average, but he's been really hitting it well all season for us."

Other players boasting red-hot batting averages, include shortstop Brady Reising (.419), designated hitter David Wilson (.407), and centerfielder Andrew Moorehead (.400).

Grelle has also been dynamite for the Warriors, with the three home runs and a team-leading 11 RBIs.

"One of my worries coming into the year, was how would the new bats we use affect our power hitters," Richardson said. "That's a big part of our game, that we have guys that can really drive the ball into the gaps on sometimes over the fence. But it really hasn't been a problem.

"Guys like (Grelle) are really good at centering the ball on that sweet spot, and they can do that no matter what kind of bats they use."

On the mound, Blankenship is probably the Warriors' best pitcher, but this season, it's been fellow senior Dan Braniecki that's been the staff ace.

He leads the Warriors with a 3-0 record, with two complete games in his three starts this season. 

His 5.65 ERA is bit inflated, and misleading, because he got tagged for seven runs in a start against Kirkwood back on April 9.

But he still got the win that day, as Fox pulled out a 9-7 victory over the Pioneers, thus maintaining Braniecki's unblemished personal pitching mark this season.

"Our pitching has been getting better and better throughout the season," Richardson said. "We've got some guys with some good arms, we've just got to do a better job a catching the ball behind them, and maybe we'd have a few more wins. It's definitely something we're going to keep working at in games and in practice."

For the next two weeks though, Fox is going to have to make its improvements mostly on the field when it counts, as the Warriors have games just about everyday until the end of the season.

This week, and weather permitting of course, Fox has a game everyday but Thursday.

On Monday, the Warriors were in Ballwin to take on Parkway South (that score wasn't available at press time).

Then on Tuesday and Wednesday, Fox will have a home-and-home series with Oakville, with the first contest at Fox High, and the second over at Oakville High.

Thursday is the lone day off this week, with the Warriors also playing a home-and-home set with Lafayette on Friday and Saturday.

"This is a big week for us no doubt," Richardson said. "We're going to find out exactly where we are and who we're going to be this week. "Parkway South is great, Lafayette is in first place, and Oakville is always a tough opponent for us. So we're going to have to be mentally tough, and be ready to play our best baseball to give ourselves a chance this week."

FOX BASEBALL REMAINING SCHEDULE

April 24      vs. Oakville              4:15 pm

April 25      at Oakville               4:15 pm

April 27      at Lafayette             4:15 pm

April 28     vs. Lafayette            10:00 am

April 30     vs. Windsor              4:30 pm

May 1        vs. Marquette           4:15 pm

May 2        at Marquette             4:15 pm

May 4       vs. Rockwood Summit 4:15 pm

May 7       vs. Mehlville               4:15 pm

May 8       at Mehlville                4:15 pm