Case of the shrinking strike zone

Eastland coach Lenny Freidhof had enough issues trying to put Aquin away on Wednesday in the regional semifinal.

Too many innings did the Cougars leave baserunners stranded, and too many times Eastland decided to swing at less than appealing pitches.

But Freidhof was upset about the shrinking strike zone that relief pitcher Gabe Schrader had to deal with in the seventh inning when Aquin made its late rally to score three runs.

"The umpire squeezed the zone and they can fine me if they want," Freidhof said. "They squeezed it. It was ridiculous. From what he was calling in the beginning of the game — Aquin was complaining about strikes being called outside — and he just zoomed in.
"But you've got to throw strikes. You've got to figure out where they're going to call them and you've got to adjust and Gabe didn't."

Schrader is one of the three pitchers on Eastland that Freidhof has said makes it hard to figure out who is their No. 1 ace. This season, Schrader is 6-1 but likely struggled more than he has all season.