It was a tough season opener for the Rockbridge County High School baseball team as the Wildcats suffered a 24-0 road loss in five innings to Turner Ashby on Monday of last week in Bridgewater.
They bounced back on Thursday with a 27-1 home win over local rival Parry McCluer to improve to 1-1. (See separate story.)
TA, which ended the week at 2-1, racked up 16 hits while holding the Wildcats to three hits. RC struggled with fielding, committing 10 errors, while TA had just one error.
The Knights scored five runs in the first inning before erupting for 13 in the third. They added three runs in the fourth and scored their final three runs in the fifth.
TA’s Thomas Knight, who has committed to playing Division I baseball at Rutgers University in New Jersey, went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run and led the Knights with four RBIs. Also stepping up for TA was Mason Mantz with three hits, including two doubles and a triple, along with three RBIs. Cooper Smith recorded three hits and two RBIs for TA.
Registering one hit each for RC were Rocky Perlozzo, Bradi Ziegler and Brady Majors.
On the mound for the Knights, Samuel Moats pitched the first three innings, striking out three while allowing two hits and no walks. Garrett Jennings threw the final two innings for TA, striking out two while surrendering one hit and no walks.
Elijah Watkins pitched the first 1.1 innings for RC, striking out one while allowing nine hits, two walks and 13 runs (three earned). Pitching in relief for the Wildcats, freshman Wyatt Orebaugh allowed two hits, three walks and five runs (three earned) in the second inning. In the final 2.2 innings, Ziegler struck out two while surrendering five hits, no walks and six runs (five earned).
Under the direction of seventh-year head coach Travis Roadcap, the Wildcats have a mixture of experience and youth, with nine returning players and four who are new to the varsity level. They have five seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and one freshman.
Last year, RC went 8-11 overall and 6-8 in the Valley District. From that team, they graduated five seniors, led by Drew Potter and all-district selections Clay Irvine and Nolan Stines. Potter signed to play Division III baseball for Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, while Stines signed with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I school Bluefield University in southwest Virginia.
After seven years in the Valley District, the Wildcats have joined the Shenandoah District, with shorter trips between schools. Returning to serve as RC’s assistant coaches are Jamie Hostetter, Nick Perlozzo, Brian Smith and Justin Wenger.
RC was scheduled to play at Staunton on Friday, but that game was postponed due to rain and has been rescheduled for Monday, April 13, at 5:30 p.m. The Wildcats were slated to play at Wilson Memorial on Monday before playing host to Waynesboro yesterday. They’ll continue district action at Stuarts Draft on Thursday before playing host to Buffalo Gap on Monday, with both games starting at 5:30 p.m.
