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Weather Cooperates in Gladiator Rout of Buffalo Gap

L
Riverheads wrapped up a highly successful week this afternoon in which they picked up three wins in a period of four days, scoring an average of 12 runs per contest. Today's home game with Buffalo Gap was iffy most of the day because of the threat of rain, but there were just some sprinkles here and there, nothing hard enough to interfere, as the Big Red treated the home fans to a resounding 13-4 win over their arch-rivals.

The game got off to a mildly shaky start for both teams as each starting pitcher encountered some wildness. In one of the odder statistics you will ever hear, each team left the bases loaded in the first inning and each one scored its first run, but yet neither team recorded a hit. Instead that first stanza featured a number of walks, a hit batsman or two, and some fielding errors. The teams in fact would go on to combine for a total of eight errors on the day, something both coaches will no doubt focus on moving forward.

The key strategic move on the part of Riverheads' coach Rodney Painter that led to the victory came in the middle of the Bison's first at-bat. He was able to tell pretty early that his starter Levi Dunlap was just not "on," so he pulled him in favor of freshman phenom Holden Fitzgerald, who has been one of the Gladiators' steadier arms thus far this season. Fitzgerald held the Bison in check for the remainder of the first, his teammates tied the game in the bottom of that opening frame, and the Gladiator bats really came alive in the next three innings to take control of the game.

After the first inning ended in a 1-1 deadlock, RHS moved in front 4-1 after two and then appeared to break it open with two more runs in the third. However, the Bison then had their only successful inning at the plate as they recorded a couple of solid hits in the fourth and momentarily got back in the game as they tallied three runs to close the gap to 6-4.

But in the bottom of the same frame, RHS removed all doubt about the final outcome as they put up a five spot to move in front 11-4. By that time the threat of rain had died down but fans were beginning to get a little bit restless over the length of the game as those first four innings took about 90 minutes to play. Riverheads does not have lights so anytime it gets close to 7:00 and there is still plenty of ball to play, things can get a little bit uneasy in Greenville.

By contrast the softball game next door had moved along much faster as the Lady Bison squeezed out a 2-1 win. That was RHS' second one-run loss of the week, as they dropped a 1-0 decision at Stuarts Draft Tuesday.

Finally the fifth inning moved along a bit quicker as it was the only one of the day in which neither team scored. RHS then tallied its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth and in fact had a potential slaughter-rule 14th run just 90 feet away when the inning ended. The Bison then went quietly in the top of the 7th, as the game finally wrapped up at the noticeably-darker hour of 7:40.

With the win, the Gladiators are now 2-0 in district play. That is especially impressive considering that Riverheads is extremely young this year. They have only two seniors on the team and some key positions are manned by freshmen and sophomores. They have only one game on tap next week, but it will be a biggie as they will travel to Fort Defiance on Tuesday.

Word in the stands was that Buffalo Gap had outslugged the Indians 21-15 earlier this week, but in the expect-the-unexpected nature of the Shenandoah, that comparative score will not mean diddly when Tuesday rolls around. Nevertheless, Coach Painter has to be tickled pink (or red as the case may be) about the idea of such a young team outscoring two of its district rivals 25-4 to open conference play. Throw in Monday's 11-4 non-district win over Harrisonburg, and Riverheads crossed the plate 36 times this week. Not too shabby as they say!!!!
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Riverheads Run Rules Stuarts Draft in District Opener

L
On a perfect spring evening, visiting Riverheads jumped on Stuarts Draft from the opening pitch and never let their bats rest as they annihilated the home team 12-0 in a five-inning run rule game. The Gladiators entered the game with a 3-2 non-district record, having swept Covington and beaten Harrisonburg just yesterday by an 11-4 count. Their two losses were to Alleghany.

But this one counted in district play and to say the Big Red came ready to play would be an understatement as they controlled all aspects of the game. The bats were quite obviously on fire, a trio of pitchers kept the Cougars off the scoreboard, and if RHS had any fielding errors I don't remember them. Given the lopsided score, there were certainly none that caused any harm.

Lead off batter Brendan Fortune got the party started when he reached base on what should have been a routine ground out. However the Cougar second baseman sailed the throw a good six feet over the first baseman's head, allowing Fortune to reach safely. He stole second and then scored on a pair of sacrifice singles. That chain of events cleared the bases and ordinarily might have allowed the Cougars to come to bat facing only a 1-0 deficit.

But RHS had other ideas as the remaining six members of the line-up all came to bat, and by the time the dust settled the Big Red had plated five more runs, all scored after the two outs had been recorded. So instead of a manageable one-run hole to climb out of, the Cougars found themselves down 6-0 and it only got worse from there.

The Pride added two more runs in the second, a single run in the third and then capped it off with a three-run fourth inning. The closest the Cougars came to scoring was in the bottom of the third. They loaded the bases with one out but Riverheads got out of the jam on an inning-ending double play. The Big Red defense turned another DP in a later Cougar inning.

Since this was my first game of the season, I am still learning the roster, but it was certainly a total team effort. The idea of using three pitchers may have been connected to the fact that RHS has a game scheduled with Buffalo Gap Thursday, although the weather sounds threatening. So Coach Painter may have been thinking that it would be wise to keep everyone's pitch count down to a safe level. I know that Ethan Fitzgerald was the starter today and therefore earned the win, but I will need more time to learn the rest of the staff.

So most definitely an impressive win for the Big Red, but if Coach Painter is as smart as I think he is, he has already told his troops that this was only the first of the 12 district games they will have and that they should not read too much into this one. Likewise the Cougar skipper has probably got his guys motivated to put this one behind them and aim for an 11-1 district mark. But something tells me the Shenandoah will be just as competitive as ever and we most likely will see many more ups and downs from both these teams.

The energetic Cougar PA announcer also kept us posted on the softball game being played next door. That one was quite obviously a pitchers' duel as the Lady Cougars pushed across a run in the late innings to squeak past Riverheads 1-0.
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PWC School board building 14th high school

EPJr
School board seeks to take site for 14th high school via eminent domain

The Prince William School Board has launched eminent domain proceedings to acquire its chosen site for the county’s 14th high school, which is hoped to open in 2024
If the school division is successful in acquiring the property, it would directly impact the attendance area of Osbourn Park High School. But its mid-county location means the new school could also affect the boundaries of eastern Prince William County high schools, which include Colgan, Forest Park, Hylton, Freedom, Gar-Field and Woodbridge high schools.

Each of those high schools are projected to be between 72 and 513 students overcapacity by 2023, according to school division enrollment projections. Freedom and Colgan high schools are projected to be the most overcrowded by 2023, with each at about 500 students overcapacity.

Osbourn Park High is projected to be 432 students overcapacity, and Woodbridge High is projected to be 450 students overcapacity.

www.princewilliamtimes.com

School board seeks to take site for 14th high school via eminent domain

The Prince William School Board has launched eminent domain proceedings to acquire its chosen site for the county’s 14th high school, which is hoped to open in 2024.
www.princewilliamtimes.com www.princewilliamtimes.com
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Hey, Northern Neck folks….

DinwiddieProud
I’m finally taking my wife to the Daffodil Festival in Gloucester this Sunday. Bless her heart, I’ve been telling her I would take her for 50 years, and I’m finally getting around to it.

Any suggestions, tips, or advice will be greatly appreciated. We don’t have a lot of interest in the parade and downtown activities, mostly we just want to see flowers.

Thank you, DP
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VT

BoKnowsSports
I just knew the ladies basketball team would close LSU out last night, but in the end it looked like they forgot how to play basketball. Will Tech ever win a national championship in a major sport? Why do they look so underwhelming in the BIG games? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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