The Phillies just completed their first home stand of the season with a .500 record of 3-3. For some strange reason, they have always struggled with the Texas Rangers in the first series in multiple seasons. In the first game, Cristopher Sanchez pitched very well and the Phillies scored five runs, but in the last two games of the series, the offense disappeared, and the pitching wasn’t that great either.
Their rookie pitcher, Andrew Painter, did very well in his major league debut with five innings, six strikeouts and only gave up one run. The other rookie, Justin Crawford, has definitely been impressive with his offensive production, including a walk-off hit in the series finale against the Washington Nationals.
Surprisingly, and very disappointingly, Bryce Harper has really struggled in the first week. He only has a .125 average! That obviously has to improve a lot for the Phillies to have good results this season.
In March Madness that has now rolled into April, the Final Four is set in both women’s and men’s college basketball. On the women’s side, the University of Connecticut is definitely the favorite to repeat as champions. All the No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four, which includes South Carolina Texas, and UCLA. I hope both semifinal games are close.
For the men, the University of Connecticut beat Duke in the Elite 8 with an amazing buzzer beater. This was pretty incredible with the Huskies having been down by as many as 19 points in the first half. UConn played very good press defense causing Duke's Cayden Boozer to make a big mistake. It gave UConn freshman Braylon Mullins the opportunity to make a great shot to win the game.
UConn will play Illinois and Michigan will play Arizona on Saturday for a spot in the national championship Monday night. I still have my pool pick of Michigan to win the tournament. We will see what happens.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
