After losing at home to the Gladiators in the district opener earlier this month, Stuarts Draft rolled into Greenville this afternoon determined to even the score. They used a trio of pitchers and also some clutch hitting to pull off a 4-1 win, handing the Gladiators only their second loss of the season, both of which have come at home. The loss also knocks Riverheads down to a full game behind Wilson in the district standings, but they will have the opportunity Friday to tie things up when they travel to the Hornet Hive.
The Cougars started things off in the top of the second as they small-balled their way to their first run. They executed consecutive bunts, which put runners on second and third with nobody out. To Riverheads' credit, they were able to hold SD to just one run in that scenario, as starter Levi Dunlap would eventually go six solid innings for Riverheads and never lost control, throwing only 68 pitches.
Meanwhile the Cougars used three pitchers in the contest and that may have been enough of a curve to throw RHS off its game. However, SD had just played a game yesterday and may have another themselves on Friday, so it is possible that today's pitch-by-committee approach may have been out of necessity.
Whatever the case, the visitors scored their second run in the top of the third but this time they did it the old-fashioned way, by slugging pair of doubles. But again Riverheads was able to limit the damage and allowed only a single run.
The Gladiators then had their best scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third when Will Gardner led things off with a solid double deep in to the right field corner. There is a storage building that blocks view of that corner for some of the home fans, so it is possible that one rolled under the fence for an automatic double.
Whatever the case, the Gladiators took a page from the Cougar playbook as Carson Kuhn rapped a double of his own later in the inning. However, just like the Cougars had already done twice, RHS only managed a single run out of what could have been a much bigger inning.
From that point on, the game moved quite rapidly as Dunlap settled in and the Cougar rotation was likewise able to keep RHS from scoring again. As a result, we had three scoreless innings, and headed into the 7th with SD still ahead 2-1. Gladiator fans were of course hoping for at least a tying run and a walk-off win would be even better.
However, the Cougars instead added a pair of insurance runs. Kuhn came on to relieve Dunlap, and again that could very easily have been a pitch-count decision, knowing that Friday's big game is looming.
The Cougars got exactly what they needed when a hard-hit grounder to third was bobbled, allowing the lead-off batter to reach safely. That fired the Cougars up and motivated them to score the final two runs of the game.
That early ending allowed fans the chance to amble down to the softball field since that one was only in the sixth inning at the time. SD had built a 7-1 lead and seemed to be on the verge of a season sweep over the Lady Gladiators , but Riverheads came alive and staged a huge late-inning rally to score the final seven runs of the game and stun the Cougars 8-7.
The Cougars started things off in the top of the second as they small-balled their way to their first run. They executed consecutive bunts, which put runners on second and third with nobody out. To Riverheads' credit, they were able to hold SD to just one run in that scenario, as starter Levi Dunlap would eventually go six solid innings for Riverheads and never lost control, throwing only 68 pitches.
Meanwhile the Cougars used three pitchers in the contest and that may have been enough of a curve to throw RHS off its game. However, SD had just played a game yesterday and may have another themselves on Friday, so it is possible that today's pitch-by-committee approach may have been out of necessity.
Whatever the case, the visitors scored their second run in the top of the third but this time they did it the old-fashioned way, by slugging pair of doubles. But again Riverheads was able to limit the damage and allowed only a single run.
The Gladiators then had their best scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third when Will Gardner led things off with a solid double deep in to the right field corner. There is a storage building that blocks view of that corner for some of the home fans, so it is possible that one rolled under the fence for an automatic double.
Whatever the case, the Gladiators took a page from the Cougar playbook as Carson Kuhn rapped a double of his own later in the inning. However, just like the Cougars had already done twice, RHS only managed a single run out of what could have been a much bigger inning.
From that point on, the game moved quite rapidly as Dunlap settled in and the Cougar rotation was likewise able to keep RHS from scoring again. As a result, we had three scoreless innings, and headed into the 7th with SD still ahead 2-1. Gladiator fans were of course hoping for at least a tying run and a walk-off win would be even better.
However, the Cougars instead added a pair of insurance runs. Kuhn came on to relieve Dunlap, and again that could very easily have been a pitch-count decision, knowing that Friday's big game is looming.
The Cougars got exactly what they needed when a hard-hit grounder to third was bobbled, allowing the lead-off batter to reach safely. That fired the Cougars up and motivated them to score the final two runs of the game.
That early ending allowed fans the chance to amble down to the softball field since that one was only in the sixth inning at the time. SD had built a 7-1 lead and seemed to be on the verge of a season sweep over the Lady Gladiators , but Riverheads came alive and staged a huge late-inning rally to score the final seven runs of the game and stun the Cougars 8-7.
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