The Rockbridge County High School baseball team suffered a 10-5 home loss to Shenandoah District rival Alleghany on Friday evening in Lexington. RC ended the week at 4-7 overall and 2-6 in district action, while Alleghany improved to 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the district.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Jalen Raether doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring home Kai Rowland. RC tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Bradi Ziegler singled on a fly ball to center field to drive in Trevor Hoke.
Alleghany’s big inning was the second, when the Cougars scored five runs to go up 6-1. They scored one run on a single, two on a double, and two on errors.
The Wildcats cut the lead to 6-2 when Brady Majors singled on a hard grounder to center field to drive in Hoke.
Alleghany answered back in the top of the fourth when Brady May singled, also on a hard grounder to center field, to bring home Graham Brewster, making it 7-2.
The Wildcats then scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, on a double by Tyler Woods that brought home Eli Sorrells and on a single by Hoke that drove in Woods, cutting Alleghany’s lead to 7-4.
The Cougars then scored on a single by Brycen Griffith in the top of the fifth, driving in Elijah Leisure-White. Alleghany scored its final two runs on a home run by Rowland that drove in Leisure-White in the top of the seventh, extending the Cougars’ lead to 10-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, RC’s Austyn Gannutz hit a solo home run to left field, his fourth homer of the season, but the Cougars ended the game with a strikeout and a catch in center field.
Alleghany recorded 10 hits, while RC had eight. Leading the Cougars with three hits and four RBIs was Rowland, while May had two hits and one RBI. Hoke paced the Wildcats with three hits and had one RBI.
Raether pitched the first five innings for Alleghany, striking out seven while allowing seven hits, two walks and four earned runs. In the final two innings, Tucker Phillips stuck out four while surrendering one hit, one walk and one earned run.
For RC, Elijah Watkins threw the first 4.1 innings, striking out two while allowing nine hits, two walks and eight runs (five earned). In the final 2.2 innings, Hendrick Colvin surrendered one hit, two walks and two earned runs.
The Wildcats committed four errors, while the Cougars had three.
RC was scheduled to play host to Staunton yesterday and will continue district action at Waynesboro on Friday. They’ll play a nondistrict home game against Turner Ashby on Monday before playing host to district rival Stuarts Draft on Tuesday. All three games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
