I’ve always heard and read that pitching is the most important thing in the playoffs. But after watching two games this week, I’m not so sure that’s entirely true.

On Tuesday, I saw Beardstown pitcher Sarah Heller pitch what I ruled a no-hitter — others argued there were one or two hits (which I ruled errors) but I called it a no-hitter — and Heller’s team lost to New Berlin, 1-0, after making four errors in the final two innings.

Then on Wednesday, I saw Greenfield pitcher Ellissa Sexton struck out 13 batters over seven innings. She made one mistake, allowing a leadoff home run in the top of the fifth inning. Her team went on to lose, 1-0.

I thought both pitchers turned in remarkable performances, but neither got much help from their team. In one instance, it was defense. In the other, it was a lack of hitting.

So while it is commonly believed that pitching usually decides a team’s fate in the postseason, this isn’t always the case.

I’ve covered plenty of chilly spring baseball and softball games, but Friday’s softball game at Triopia was by far the coldest.

Triopia coach Gene Farmer said the wind gusts were at 40 miles per hour, and I think that was a modest assessment. It was difficult to tell the teams apart with the variety of sweatshirts, stocking caps and headbands being worn. The umpires looked out of place, too, with unmatching jackets and caps.

The wind was so strong that routine plays were no longer routine. Any fly ball was a potential hit, or a potential error. In the end, it was a Triopia reserve, Meghan Carls, who spent most of the game staying warm on the bench, coming through with the winning hit in extra innings.

The crowd wasn’t very big Friday, but those who were there saw a good softball game. Kudos to the players, coaches, umpires and fans — and JJC sports editor Dennis Mathes, who filmed the game — for sticking it out, and congratulations to the Lady Trojans for a hard-fought win.

I usually try to keep my blogs pretty light, but something unfortunate happened yesterday that will affect how we cover an athletic team from one of our local schools.

While I was calling coaches, trying to figure out which games had been postponed and which games we were missing for spring sports, I had one coach tell me that I would not be able to get stats from prior games for their team. I was told that due to a comment posted on one of our several open forums, this coach was no longer going to cooperate.

Someone had posted a comment using this coach’s name, saying that this coach had fired an assistant coach — which had not happened. The post remained up for about two hours before someone at the Journal-Courier removed the comment.

This coach’s principal saw the comment, and asked the coach about it. The coach was clearly upset by what had happened. I’m not sure if we’ll get any more stats from this coach’s team this year.

So to get to my point — which is pretty simple — please do not post comments using another person’s name. I am OK with anonymous posts, although I would encourage people to use their real names. But posting as another person is going a little too far.

The open forums on our Web site were created so people could talk about local sports. They were not created for people to make the jobs of our local coaches even more difficult.

When we picked our all-area girls’ basketball teams a couple weeks ago, there was a trend that was hard not to notice. Of the 18 girls on one of the three teams, two-thirds were non-seniors who will return to play next season.

Now this isn’t a knock on the current senior class. You can’t complain about a class that included Routt’s Melissa Nichols, Carrollton’s Dana Schnettgoecke and West Central’s Kelsey Little. But it is surprising that only one senior made our first team, whereas two freshmen made the first team.

So although we might miss some of our local seniors next year, there’s plenty of reason to be excited. The start of the 2008-09 season is still nearly eight months away, but I have to believe most local coaches — and plenty of fans — are already anxious to see their local teams return to the hardwood.