Two RC Baseball Rallies Fall Short
In a busy week on the diamond, the Rockbridge County High School baseball team dropped a pair of Shenandoah District games before earning an 8-7 road win over district rival Stuarts Draft on Thursday.
The Wildcats ended the week at 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the district.
Against Stuarts Draft (3-3 overall, 0-3 district), the Wildcats led 7-0 before the Cougars scored two runs in the fourth and added five runs in the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.
RC scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth when Austin Moyers hit a hard grounder and reached first base on a Draft error, driving in Trevor Hoke. The Wildcats prevented Draft from recording a hit in the final two innings. After a groundout in the bottom of the seventh, RC sophomore pitcher Hendrick Colvin struck out the final two batters he faced.
Pitching for the final 2.2 innings, Colvin struck out five while allowing no hits, one walk and no runs. The Wildcats’ starting pitcher was Elijah Watkins, who struck out two and surrendered eight hits, no walks and seven runs (three earned) in the first 4.1 innings.
In their big second inning, the Wildcats scored when Wyatt Orebaugh was hit by a pitch, bringing home Hoke. RC added a run on an error, another on a sacrifice fly by Colvin, two on a double by Rocky Perlozzo, and one on a single by Bradi Ziegler to take a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 7-0 when Austyn Gannutz led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to left field.
Draft then started to rally in the bottom of the fourth, scoring off a double and a groundout to cut RC’s lead to 7-2. In the fifth, the Cougars scored on an error, a fielder’s choice, a single and a double to tie the game.
In the top of the sixth, Hoke doubled on a fly ball to right field, setting up Moyers to bring him home to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
Hoke led RC with four hits, while Perlozzo had three hits and two RBIs. The Wildcats recorded 10 hits against four Draft pitchers.
Bentley Almarode paced Draft with three hits and two RBIs, while Brogan Fitzgerald had two hits and an RBI. The Cougars had eight hits in the game. Draft committed five errors, while RC had two.
WM 8, RC 5
After falling behind 6-0 in the first inning, the Wildcats made a late charge before coming up short 8-5 on Monday of last week at Wilson Memorial.
In the first, the Green Hornets (5-1 overall, 4-0 district) scored six runs on two doubles, three singles and a sacrifice fly. WM added two more runs in the fourth to make it 8-0, scoring on an error and a single.
The Wildcats finally crossed home plate in the top of the fifth when Brady Majors singled on a line drive to right field to bring home Colvin.
In the sixth, the Wildcats loaded the bases, and Hoke scored when Colvin was hit by a pitch. Perlozzo then singled to right field to drive in Elijah Sorrells, cutting WM’s lead to 8-3.
The Wildcats scored on a WM error in the seventh after Sorrells put the ball in play on a grounder, bringing home Ziegler. With two outs, Moyers then drew a walk to load the bases, and Tyler Woods walked to bring home Gannutz to trim the lead to 8-5. WM’s Jacob Mc-Worther then came in to pitch and threw a strikeout to seal the win for the Hornets.
WM racked up 11 hits, while RC had six. Christian Brewer and Nolan Deaver led the Hornets with two hits each, while Gannutz paced the Wildcats with two.
Four different pitchers contributed for the Hornets. For RC, Woods pitched the first four innings, striking out one while allowing 10 hits, two walks and eight runs (six earned). In the final two innings, Orebaugh surrendered one hit, one walk and no runs.
RC committed two errors, while WM had one.
WHS 9, RC 7
The Wildcats made another valiant effort to come back from a large deficit on Tuesday of last week, trailing Waynesboro 8-0 in the sixth inning before rallying but falling short 9-7 at home. The Little Giants (2-4, 2-2) took a 2-0 lead in the third, scoring on a double and a single. Waynesboro added three more runs on two singles to extend its lead to 5-0. In the sixth, Jackson Powell belted a three-run home run to left field to extend the Little Giants’ lead to 8-0.
RC scored a run in the bottom of the sixth before Waynesboro scored its final two runs on an error in the top of the seventh, extending its lead to 9-1.
The Wildcats weren’t done, though. In the bottom of the seventh, Moyers singled on a grounder to shortstop to drive in Gannutz. Woods then grounded into a fielder’s choice, bringing home Sorrells. After Perlozzo hit a grounder and reached first base on an error, Colvin and Chase Potter scored to cut Waynesboro’s lead to 9-5. Majors then doubled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Perlozzo, and Majors ran home on a wild pitch before the Little Giants ended the game with a catch at second base for the final out.
Waynesboro recorded 10 hits, while RC had five. Leading the Little Giants with two hits each were Powell, Jared Culmer and Ka’Marion Martin. Majors paced the Wildcats with two hits and an RBI.
The Little Giants used four pitchers. For RC, Majors pitched the first 3.1 innings, striking out one while allowing six hits, one walk and five runs (three earned). Ziegler pitched the final 3.2 innings, striking out one while surrendering four hits, one walk and four runs (three earned). RC committed seven errors, while Waynesboro had five.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Buffalo Gap on Monday and will continue district action at Staunton next Monday before playing host to Riverheads on Tuesday, with both games scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
