It is the oldest cliche in baseball, but one swing of the bat made all the difference this afternoon as Noah Canterbury hit a grand slam to pretty much the same spot he had visited a couple of weeks ago as he sent the Buffalo Gap Bison to the regional final and eventually the state playoffs with an 8-5 win over Riverheads. Not only are the Bison advancing but they will apparently get to host that regional final because last we heard, Rapp Co was taking care of number one seeded Surry County. So if that score held up, the number 3 seeded Bison would host the number 4 Panthers with both then representing Region B in the state tournament.
Canterbury's game winner came in the top of the fourth and put the Bison ahead 6-4 after a big third for RHS had just put them ahead 4-1. The Bison then added single runs in the fifth and sixth to pad the lead but the Gladiators did not go down quietly as they scored once in the bottom of the seventh, then loaded the bases, meaning they had the winning run at the plate as they would say on TV. But instead of getting their own grand slam, the final Big Red batter fanned to end the game.
Statistically you could not have asked for a closer game as the announcer told us that the hits were 11 to 10 in favor of Riverheads, the left-on-base numbers were 9-8, and each team committed two errors. I couldn't begin to name all the pitchers because there were at least 7 combined in the game.
Other than giving up the winning blast, Riverheads played a decent defensive game as they turned three double plays, including a real beauty to end the first inning after the Gap had taken a 1-0 lead and threatened even more. The Gladiators then tied things up in the second and forged ahead in the third. The Bison then wasted little time re-establishing control as they scored a single run before Canterbury's big one put them ahead for good. This homer certainly did not have the distance as the previous one that may still be rolling around someplace, but needless to say this one was more important to the Bison fans.
The loss snaps a 7-game winning streak for Riverheads and ends their season at 15-6. Best of luck to the Bison moving forward and you heard it here first.....both these teams are SO young that we will be having a similar discussion about this same time next year.
The news was not all bad for RHS fans as the Lady Gladiators knocked off Lunenburg 10-6 to move to the Region B final and secure a place in their state tournament. Also unofficially the boys soccer team was holding its own at ARGS but no word on a final for that event. Girls soccer and I think tennis may have also been in action on this very busy evening for high school sports.
Canterbury's game winner came in the top of the fourth and put the Bison ahead 6-4 after a big third for RHS had just put them ahead 4-1. The Bison then added single runs in the fifth and sixth to pad the lead but the Gladiators did not go down quietly as they scored once in the bottom of the seventh, then loaded the bases, meaning they had the winning run at the plate as they would say on TV. But instead of getting their own grand slam, the final Big Red batter fanned to end the game.
Statistically you could not have asked for a closer game as the announcer told us that the hits were 11 to 10 in favor of Riverheads, the left-on-base numbers were 9-8, and each team committed two errors. I couldn't begin to name all the pitchers because there were at least 7 combined in the game.
Other than giving up the winning blast, Riverheads played a decent defensive game as they turned three double plays, including a real beauty to end the first inning after the Gap had taken a 1-0 lead and threatened even more. The Gladiators then tied things up in the second and forged ahead in the third. The Bison then wasted little time re-establishing control as they scored a single run before Canterbury's big one put them ahead for good. This homer certainly did not have the distance as the previous one that may still be rolling around someplace, but needless to say this one was more important to the Bison fans.
The loss snaps a 7-game winning streak for Riverheads and ends their season at 15-6. Best of luck to the Bison moving forward and you heard it here first.....both these teams are SO young that we will be having a similar discussion about this same time next year.
The news was not all bad for RHS fans as the Lady Gladiators knocked off Lunenburg 10-6 to move to the Region B final and secure a place in their state tournament. Also unofficially the boys soccer team was holding its own at ARGS but no word on a final for that event. Girls soccer and I think tennis may have also been in action on this very busy evening for high school sports.
