Hopefully the rain holds off and we'll get the Generals and Gladiators at 4:55 pm on WSVG 790 AM and valleysportsradio.com
Baseball today--C 44 Semis, Stonewall at Riverheads, LIVE today...
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For any Stonewall fans that tuned in to this broadcast, they were richly rewarded as the Generals left Greenville with a surprising 2-0 win over RHS and more importantly a berth in the Conference 44 finals and a trip next week to the 1-A East Regionals. Conversely, Riverheads' season ends, despite the fact that they had pounded the Generals for 11 runs, not once but twice, during the regular season. All of which just goes to show that the playoffs are always like starting over and you can never count anyone out.
Andrew Golladay and Cole Holsinger took the mound for the two teams and treated the crowd to a classic pitchers' duel for the first five innings. Although there were a few scattered hits and even a couple of legitimate scoring threats, neither team scratched as those first five innings took only an hour to complete.
The Generals then scored their two runs in a controversy-filled sixth inning. There were at least four stoppages of play during that one at-bat, and the three guys in blue (yes we had three today........maybe a playoff requirement?) got together and made their group decisions. Stonewall came out on the winning side of most of those discussions, much to the dismay of some vocal Gladiator fans.
SJ's first break came when a balk was called on Golladay (the only one on either team all day) and it occurred with the bases loaded, thereby walking in the first run of the game. Moments later came the play that really fired up the home fans as a nice throw across the diamond appeared to have nailed a runner and stopped the bleeding at just one run. An out signal was clearly made, but Stonewall protested that the first baseman was pulled off the bag and the call was reversed, giving the Generals their insurance run.
At that point, Austin Craft came on to relieve Golladay and he ended the inning with a one-pitch ground-out. That set the stage for the bottom of the sixth, which had a little bit of drama of its own.
The Gladiators' lead-off hitter, I believe it was freshman Braeson Fulton, hit a hard grounder that he tried to beat out. The play was close and the Big Red fans closest to the action felt as if the Generals' first baseman had also been pulled off the bag. But the out call stood and the Gladiators never threatened again. In fact, Holsinger finished the game with his strongest stuff of the day as he struck out the side in the seventh to remove any doubt about a possible comeback.
The Gladiators had their chances in this one, especially early, but just could not get the key hit they needed. Fulton reached second in both the first and third innings, and in each case, advanced to third on a wild pitch. The first time he was standing there with no outs and anyone would have bet he was about to post the first run of the game, but Holsinger got out of the jam. Then in the third, Fulton had the best RHS hit of the night with a towering two-out double over the centerfielder's head, but was again left stranded. So it was a case of missed opportunities, which will likely be a point of emphasis next year for this very young Gladiator team, which only loses three seniors.
According to the PA announcer's post-game wrap-up, Stonewall outhit RHS 6-4 and the Generals played an error-free game. They will now go on to play the winner of the Altavista/Luray game, which is scheduled for Friday. Since Stonewall is the lowest remaining seed and will therefore have to travel for the Conference title game, you can bet they are pulling for Luray to win down in A'town tomorrow.
Andrew Golladay and Cole Holsinger took the mound for the two teams and treated the crowd to a classic pitchers' duel for the first five innings. Although there were a few scattered hits and even a couple of legitimate scoring threats, neither team scratched as those first five innings took only an hour to complete.
The Generals then scored their two runs in a controversy-filled sixth inning. There were at least four stoppages of play during that one at-bat, and the three guys in blue (yes we had three today........maybe a playoff requirement?) got together and made their group decisions. Stonewall came out on the winning side of most of those discussions, much to the dismay of some vocal Gladiator fans.
SJ's first break came when a balk was called on Golladay (the only one on either team all day) and it occurred with the bases loaded, thereby walking in the first run of the game. Moments later came the play that really fired up the home fans as a nice throw across the diamond appeared to have nailed a runner and stopped the bleeding at just one run. An out signal was clearly made, but Stonewall protested that the first baseman was pulled off the bag and the call was reversed, giving the Generals their insurance run.
At that point, Austin Craft came on to relieve Golladay and he ended the inning with a one-pitch ground-out. That set the stage for the bottom of the sixth, which had a little bit of drama of its own.
The Gladiators' lead-off hitter, I believe it was freshman Braeson Fulton, hit a hard grounder that he tried to beat out. The play was close and the Big Red fans closest to the action felt as if the Generals' first baseman had also been pulled off the bag. But the out call stood and the Gladiators never threatened again. In fact, Holsinger finished the game with his strongest stuff of the day as he struck out the side in the seventh to remove any doubt about a possible comeback.
The Gladiators had their chances in this one, especially early, but just could not get the key hit they needed. Fulton reached second in both the first and third innings, and in each case, advanced to third on a wild pitch. The first time he was standing there with no outs and anyone would have bet he was about to post the first run of the game, but Holsinger got out of the jam. Then in the third, Fulton had the best RHS hit of the night with a towering two-out double over the centerfielder's head, but was again left stranded. So it was a case of missed opportunities, which will likely be a point of emphasis next year for this very young Gladiator team, which only loses three seniors.
According to the PA announcer's post-game wrap-up, Stonewall outhit RHS 6-4 and the Generals played an error-free game. They will now go on to play the winner of the Altavista/Luray game, which is scheduled for Friday. Since Stonewall is the lowest remaining seed and will therefore have to travel for the Conference title game, you can bet they are pulling for Luray to win down in A'town tomorrow.
