As the Area Code Games drag on, we’re starting to see more road-weary, tired bodies. A point of discussion among the players is how this is whole summer has been a grind and they’re starting to feel some fatigue in both their bodies and their psyche.

Then again, these dudes are freakin’ teenagers. They can suck it up and keep hustling, who are we kidding here? I wish I still had the energy of a 17-year old to carry me through the day so fuggedaboutit.

These guys look tired to you? The week-long Area Code Games can be a mental challenge too.

Day Four saw the two California-based teams come out with wins and the poor Southeast-based Nationals, they took a bad loss and also had a tie in their second game to stay winless on the week.

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GAME 10:

Brewers… 6

Reds… 0

Milwaukee team had three pitchers combine for a 3-hitter. Cody Poteet (UCLA commit) struck out five in his two innings of relief work. Timothy Lopes (Fullerton commit) went 2-for-2 with 2RBI.

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GAME 11:

Nationals… 0

Royals… 7

Clint Coulter, a catcher from Comas, Washington put on a big show, going 3-for-3, with 2RBI. Stretching singles into doubles. Bases-loaded double to wall, scored two, then two more on bad throw.

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Then the game I took in…

GAME 12

Nationals – 100 000 0 – 1  4  1

WhiteSox – 010 000 0 – 1  6  1

Trey Killian, headed for Arkansas, set the tone with a solid start.

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One thing that has been missing from this week’s Area Code Games, it’s been a lack of the proverbial web gems, the kind that populate ESPN’s Top 10 list every day at this time of year. But this game had its share of beauty glove work, strong-armed throws and smart defense.

In fact, there was probably too much good pitching and defense, as the mid-day game ended in a damn tie… which I hate. But that’s what happens in these showcases, so no big deal.

Each team committed just one error in the game, but for the White Sox, it happened on the opening batter of the game – Kyle Overstreet – who would eventually come around to score their only run.

The Sox would get their only tally when Bralin Jackson started off the frame with a triple over the head of Mitchell Aker in deep center field. Three pitches later Nathan Minkolas knocked him in with a deep fly ball to left.

But don’t worry, that Mitchell Aker dude? Well he would come to make big time amends for his not being able to catch up to that triple by Jackson. He made a Roberto Clemente-like gun out of White Sox 2nd baseman Tyler Krieger as he tried to score from 2nd base off a three-bounce single up the middle by Kevin Ross.

In fact, the throw was so incredible, it got the biggest gasp and shouts of exclamation by the scouts on hand all week. Strong work there Mitch… William & Mary will be praying you don’t go the pro route after high school.

Krieger’s luck wasn’t that great all day today as he was also thrown out at home on a gutsy attempted double steal in the first inning, setting the tone that this would be a defensive struggle. Nats 1st baseman Chris Hale also had a pair of nice defensive plays, catching one foul ball over the railing of his own dugout and also laying out to stab a sharp liner in the 6th inning with a man on 1st.

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MOUND STAR:

- Trey Killian, White Sox (Arkansas commit)

The Mountain Home, Arkansas native got the start and threw the first three innings of the game for the White Sox and got six strikeouts in the nine outs he recorded. H did have the initial error charged to him, but to his defense, it was a sharply hit comebacker that he knocked down, but fumbled when trying to pick it up and Overstreet reached. A 50-50 call if you ask me.

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BAT STAR:

- Kyle Overstreet, Nationals (Alabama commit)

The scrappy 2nd baseman from Boaz, Alabama was covered in dirt from early on in this one, and also reached base in all three at-bats. As described above, he opened the game with a comebacker that resulted in an E1, though it could’ve been ruled a hit. He also got a pair of singles in his next two at-bats, along with a stolen base.

The Nationals got a great effort from leadoff hitter Kyle Overstreet (right), as you can tell by his dirty uniform.

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MORE PICS.
Some additional images from today’s Area Code game between the White Sox and Nationals.

Tennessee commit Vincent Jackson showed a lot of athleticism, going from outfield to the pitcher's mound. He threw some low-90s heat, with solid location.

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Kyle Overstreet (with ball, checking the runner at 3rd) did a great job of handling this attempted double steal, showing his baseball I.Q.

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Tyler Krieger was sent from 3rd on that double steal, but was easily nabbed by catcher Ryan Dowdell.

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Alabama commit Colton Freeman is a hard-throwing lefty that relied primarily on his 89-90 fastball. He seemed to give it his all on every pitch, which makes you wonder if he's suited to become one of those smokin'-90s-out-of-the-'pen kind of guys.

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Ryan Perez, who is headed to Miami and is one of those Pat Veditte-type of ambidextrous pitchers with a six-fingered glove, isn't having much luck here. His White Sox bullpen teammates have a laugh as he gets the crotch of his pants stuck on the fence.

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... meanwhile, back at home plate, Tyler Krieger is getting the bulls-eye on him once again. This time, he's trying to beat out a blistering throw from center field by Mitchell Aker of the Nationals.

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... but once again Krieger is the hard luck victim of another great defensive play.

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Aker's sonic throw from center field earns him a high-five from right-fielder Rock Rucker

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And the William & Mary commit sports a huge smile as he gets back to the dugout and hears it from his teammates.

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"Oh geez, a freakin' truck!" The Nats' 6'5, 250-pound Chris Hale, a highly-recruited defensive end in football, looks like he's zeroing in to put a huge hit on White Sox shortstop Donovan Walton.

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Crafty lefty, and Iowa-bound, Ryan Borucki threw well in his two innings of work, ehibiting great control and getting three strikeouts along the way.

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Coon Rapids, Minnesota native Logan Shore is one of the few 2013 graduates playing in the Area Code Games. He has great command of the strike-zone and seemed to never get behind in the count. He touched 92 on a couple of pitches.

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Of course, no trip down the 405 freeway is complete without catching sight of the Goodyear blimp which is tethered here at a field in Carson, California. (and yes, I'm taking pictures while I drive... not recommended.)

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GAME 13:

Yankees… 1

Athletics… 6

Zach Green (Oregon State commit) got all the runs the A’s would need with a 1st inning, 2RBI double. Braden Bishop (Washington commit) led the A’s by scoring twice. In the loss, Yankees pitcher Quinn Carpenter went 3.1 innings, going one over the minimum.

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OTHER NOTES.

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COACH SPEAK.

A couple of notes on some of the coaches I talked to.

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- JACK DAHM, IOWA.

Ran into the Hawkeye head honcho at Blair Field today as he scouted out his duo of prospects in catcher Blake Hickman and LHP Ryan Borucki, who have given him their verbal commitment, although depending on how high they go in the 2012 MLB draft, coach may have a tough time for getting them to campus. The good news is that Hickman’s mother is a teacher and values her son getting an education more than anything.

It’s almost an oddity to see a Northern mid-major have a few players in this showcase-of-showcases that is mostly chock-full of Southern and Western powers being represented. It’s cool to see, but time will tell if Iowa can hang on to these two difference-makers.

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- DAVE ESQUER, CAL.

Got the chance to talk to Cal coach Dave Esquer about the Area Code Games, the possibility of getting players to eschew their draft status and come to campus and, of course, a whole bunch of off the record stuff that I wish I could talk about. Here are a few of the highlights.

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On the REAL value to the Area Code Games:

“A lot of times its about the guys in the tryouts for these teams that DON’T make it… they’re the ones that are going to make or break your program. Most of these guys aren’t gonna stick around for college.”

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On the hiring of new pitching coach Mike Neu:

“He’s got a reputation of being a real teacher of pitching. The last thing you know about him is that he was a big-leaguer. He looks at himself as a coach who happened to play in the majors. He’s kind of perfect for our makeup, he’s a grinder. We had great coaching chemistry with our staff and that was a big key to us. But coach Neu is working out with the guys in the weight room, he gets to practice early and stays late.

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On status of drafted players coming back:

“Chadd Krist (catcher, 13th round pick of White Sox) has already told me he is coming back and he’s a leader. Looks like we’ll also get Matt Flemer (pitcher, 19th round pick of Royals) back as well. And he probably needs to return for another year.

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On the fact that he’s had a steady stream of players shunning the pros to return to Berkeley:

“The strength of our program is that it’s getting to where the pros are having to drag kids out of our program. And that makes me more proud than anything. Guys aren’t just putting in their three years and getting out of here. Mark Canha last year was a 6th round pick and he sat in my office and told me ‘I want to be that Tim Tebow-type of player, staying all four years and building the program.’ But the White Sox eventually gave him what he was asking for so he had to go, but he didn’t want to.”

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- JOHN SAVAGE, UCLA.

Savage has been a master at getting high-round draftees to come to Westwood despite having all kinds of green flashed in their faces. He has seven prospects playing in this week’s Area Code Games

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On if he has any drafted guys that are coming back to school:

“The only one right now looks like Mitchell Beacom (6′5 LHP, key reliever). He hurt his foot in the last few weeks of the season and not having him for the Regionals just killed us.”

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On how it was to coach Trevor Bauer:

“As a practice guy, he was incredible. You put him in competitive drills and he was great. On the mound, he just wanted to strike guys out and embarrass hitters. Which is good. I mean, if you have a guy strike out over 200 guys in a season, you don’t want to tell him to do something different.”

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On the changing of the BBCOR bats:

“The time of the games and all that, that was completely taken care of by the bats. You can talk about the 90-seconds between innings and pitch clock and all, but the bats are the real reason the game is so much faster now. And the pitching has changed completely too. That 82-to-85 right hander that was completely naked out there before?… You couldn’t even put him out there on the mound, he was getting undressed by those hitters. Now you can use him just like every other pitcher.”

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On his mentor Mike Gillespie at UC Irvine:

“A brilliant offensive mind. He knows how to manipulate, knows how to take risks. You never know what he’s going to do next, totally unpredictable. And his players take on that personality and average-talent guys can play really good for him. These new bats worked right into his hands.”