Random notes from UK-Louisville baseball game

A couple game notes, mostly random, from the thrilling 10-9 walk-off win for Louisville against UK.

- The closers from both teams – Matt Litle for UK and Neil Holland for U of L – both blew leads in the ninth inning. Both are really good closers. They combined to give up nine runs in the final frame. Wild stuff.

- This was the first road game I’ve covered for any sport. However, the game was in familiar territory. I played at Louisville’s Patterson Field in a high school fall baseball league. Sadly, the only real memory I have of it was making artwork out of the black pebbles from the Field Turf stuff they use. I don’t think I got that much playing time. And deservedly so.

- Probably the biggest difference I’ve noticed between the two teams is that the Cards actually have girls play a part on the team. Unlike UK, they use bat girls. They also have cheerleaders who occasionally perform on top of the dugout. UK has neither of these things at Cliff Hagan Field. It might have something to do with distractions. When I was on the high school baseball team (and, once again, not receiving much playing time), we used girl managers for one year. That idea lasted all of one season. I think the bench players tried too hard to flirt with them rather than support the boys (I don’t think I was guilty, at least not if you count success as evidence).

-  A star athlete from my hometown made an appearance tonight. Dean Kiekhefer, who now pitches for the Cards, was the high school superstar at Oldham County. (Probably one of the biggest in school history, too. The only others I can think of off the top of my head were Jon Rauch, another pitcher who went on to win an Olympic gold medal and now pitches for the Minnesota Twins, and Dante Smith, who was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Hawks but quickly ended up in the NBDL.) Kiekhefer came on in the sixth inning and got a crucial out.

Back in the day, Kiekhefer was an unhittable force. He isn’t as unhittable in the college ranks – he owns a 4.15 ERA as a weekend starter, which is still pretty good. I faced him one time in my high school career, during an intrasquad scrimmage. I was a sophomore going up against a senior lefty with a twisting windup and a mid-90s fastball and who had scouts showing up to watch him almost every game. At our ballpark. Our little Oldham County ballpark with a concession stand that was a trailer and some weird-looking garden outside the visitor’s dugout. That part, the part where scouts showed up to watch one of ours, was really cool. But when I faced him, I planned on swinging three straight times, trying to avoid getting hit in the head and heading back to the dugout as soon as possible. I couldn’t hit pitchers who touched 70, much less this guy. And let’s just say I executed my game plan to perfection.

Anyway, it was weird to see someone from my high school take the mound in an important situation in an important game. He hasn’t lost anything. Although he has gained some facial hair, from what I saw in passing down on the field after the game.

- I can’t escape Drake. I think two U of L players had his songs as their walkup songs. This isn’t a bad thing.