In all four games, there have been defensive gems and solid, fundamental defense. Not perfect, but very good team play. People hitting their cutoff men. Sound strategy. Sacrifice bunts. Smart pitching. I know this is basic and standard to most baseball we see at high school, college and pro levels.

For me, though, seeing four games in a row with outstanding competitiveness is worth writing home about. One thing I would like to note most, though, is that the doubleheader Saturday format adopted by the OIA isn't so bad. I know some folks don't like it. They like seeing OIA games on Wednesdays, every week. But the OIA had no choice but to double up and save on bus rentals. Those costs can really devour an athletic budget.

The byproduct, though, is that coaches get to work with their players on fundamentals without interruption throughout the week. Sure, that might bore a few players, but there is absolutely nothing like repetition and daily competition between players in drills to really fine tune a team. I haven't heard a single coach complain about having more practice time, or rather, more consistency on a daily basis.

So far, from what I've seen, it's turning out some good defense on the diamonds.

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