It's All About Trust
I asked Outlaw manager Mark Parent what many -- and rightfully so -- might perceive as a weird question following his team's third straight dramatic come-from-behind victory tonight at Nettleton Stadium. Two weeks ago, he seemed skeptical about his offense's ability to climb out of huge holes, which wasn't an issue at the time because the team's pitching staff had been so solid to begin the year.
So a natural query following the 6-5 win in 10 long, long innings over the Orange County Flyers seemed to be if his resurgent lineup had established enough trust yet for him to sit on his hands while weathering a deficit, something Parent has pretty much done on all three occasions in this past trio of nights.
"I trust at this point that they aren't going to throw away at-bats," he said, alluding to the team's overwhelming difficulty to pressure opposing pitching at the outset of the season. "I trust that the pitchers aren't going to hang their head when we're down, that they're going to keep battling to keep us in the game. It has been easy to keep going south in these ballgames, but we're not trying too hard to get back in it in a hurry. (The coaches) have shown our faith and they have pushed it."