The Rockbridge County High School baseball team suffered a pair of home losses before bouncing back with a 12-0 road win in five innings over Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Friday.
Against Harrisonburg (0-12 overall, 0-9 district), the Wildcats (5-9, 3-6) racked up 10 hits while holding the Blues Streaks to two. The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Drew Potter scored on a wild pitch, and Brady Edwards singled on a grounder to shortstop to drive in Nolan Stines.
RC added four runs in the third to extend its lead to 6-0. Clay Irvine scored on a groundout by Rocky Perlozzo, Bradi Ziegler doubled to right field to bring in two runs, and Brady Majors singled to right field to drive in Ziegler.
The Wildcats scored another five runs in the fourth to stretch their lead to 11-0, bringing in runs on singles by Potter, Stines and Ziegler, along with a triple by Majors. In the fifth, RC’s Tyler Woods scored on a passed ball for the game’s final run.
Ziegler had two hits and led RC with four RBIs, while Majors recorded two hits and two RBIs. “The bats came alive when needed, and Bradi Ziegler had a great day at the plate,” said RC head coach Travis Roadcap.
On the mound, Potter pitched all five innings for the Wildcats, striking out four while allowing the two hits, two walks and no runs. “Drew threw well, and we did what we were supposed to do,” said Roadcap.
WM 8, RC 3
The Wildcats started the week with an 8-3 home loss to district rival William Monroe (115, 7-3) on Tuesday of last week. The Dragons took a 3-0 lead in the second, scoring two runs on a single and one on a second single.
In the fourth, RC’s Austyn Gannutz doubled to center field to drive in Stines, and Potter scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Majors to cut WM’s lead to 3-2.
The Dragons answered with five runs in the top of the fifth, and the Wildcats could manage only one run after that, when Gannutz singled to left field to bring home Irvine in the bottom of the sixth.
WM recorded eight hits, while RC had seven. Waylon Anderegg led WM with two hits, while Gannutz paced RC with two hits and two RBIs.
Two WM pitchers combined to strike out six, while three RC pitchers combined to strike out four. The Wildcats committed two errors, while the Dragons had one.
FD 4, RC 1
Leaving runners in scoring position on multiple occasions, the Wildcats suffered a 4-1 home loss to Fort Defiance on Thursday evening in Lexington.
The Indians (9-7) led off with a double to center field, scoring on an RC error. The Indians extended their lead to 2-0 when Noah Dulaney singled to right field to drive in Isaac Marshall.
The Wildcats answered in the bottom of the first. After Gannutz singled to left field and Clay Irvine doubled on a line drive to the same spot, Drew Potter grounded out but brought home JP Welsh III to cut Fort’s lead to 2-1.
In the top of the second, after drawing two walks, the Indians scored again when Marshall doubled to right field to drive in Hanger and Garrett Simmons, stretching Fort’s lead to 4-1.
The Wildcats had Moyers on third base with one out in the bottom of the second, but the Indians ended the inning by catching two fly balls for outs. Perlozzo got to third base with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but Fort again caught a fly ball, and neither team scored again for the rest of the game.
RC recorded six hits, while Fort had five. Six Wildcats each recorded one hit. Hanger led the Indians with two hits, while three Fort players each had one hit.
On the mound, Noah Dulaney pitched the first five innings for Fort, striking out six while allowing five hits, two walks and one earned run. Wilson Cash threw for the final two innings, striking out one while surrendering one hit, one walk and no runs.
For RC, Eli Watkins pitched the first four innings, striking out four while allowing four hits, three walks and four runs, two of them earned. In the final three innings, Irvine struck out four while surrendering one hit, no walks and no runs.
RC and Fort each committed one error. The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to East Rockingham yesterday before having a nondistrict home game against Staunton on Thursday and returning to district action at home against Turner Ashby on Friday. The Wildcats will play host to district rival Rocktown on Monday, finishing a game that was suspended at Rocktown in the top of the third, with RC up 1-0, due to a thunderstorm, and then playing a second game. On all three nights, baseball is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Before the action starts on Monday, the Wildcats will honor their five seniors: Irvine, Potter, Stines, Welsh III and Brady Edwards.
WILDCAT SENIOR first baseman Drew Potter reaches to tag out a WM baserunner. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
