The Riverheads Gladiators continued their three-game home stand this afternoon and played probably their most complete game of the season as they white-washed the visiting Central Falcons 10-0 in five innings. It was the Big Red's first shut-out win of the season and completed a season sweep of the Falcons.
In the first meeting up in Woodstock the Gladiators won 9-5 but needed some late-inning heroics to pull it off, but tonight they scored all they would need in the bottom of the first. Designated hitter Holden Fitzgerald provided the biggest base-knock as he hit a two-out, two-run single to make it 3-0 after one.
Henley Dunlap then padded the RHS advantage with a two-run homer in the third that initially did not look all that deep. But it cleared the left field fence for his second round-tripper in the last three games.
The Gladiators then upped their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth but those two runs were nicely-wrapped gifts as both were walked in. The Falcons tried five different pitchers by my count tonight and Riverheads had little trouble with any of them.
RHS then put the game away by the slaughter rule in the bottom of the fifth by scoring their final three runs before the Falcons could record even one out. Tristan Musselman started things off with a solid double to right-center and two or three batters later it was all over.
To achieve a shut-out the Gladiators obviously had someone on the mound who was doing his job and that was sophomore Asher Falls, who worked all five innings and set the Falcons down on just 70 pitches. We will never know if the couple dozen Falcon fans who made the trip might have been the vocal type because Falls gave them absolutely nothing to get excited about.
If Central had more than a hit or two I don't recall them and they never mounted any kind of serious threat. The RHS defense helped support Falls by playing an error-free game. As stated earlier, this was probably the Big Red's most dominant game of the season, considering the caliber and potential of the opponent.
The Big Red will be right back in action again tomorrow (which might be today depending on when you read this!) as they will host The Staunton Storm in a Shenandoah District contest. The Gladiators will hope to improve upon their 2-1 district record and stay in the race as next week's two games will be on the road at Buffalo Gap and Fort Defiance. After today's win, RHS is now 8-1 on the season.
In the first meeting up in Woodstock the Gladiators won 9-5 but needed some late-inning heroics to pull it off, but tonight they scored all they would need in the bottom of the first. Designated hitter Holden Fitzgerald provided the biggest base-knock as he hit a two-out, two-run single to make it 3-0 after one.
Henley Dunlap then padded the RHS advantage with a two-run homer in the third that initially did not look all that deep. But it cleared the left field fence for his second round-tripper in the last three games.
The Gladiators then upped their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth but those two runs were nicely-wrapped gifts as both were walked in. The Falcons tried five different pitchers by my count tonight and Riverheads had little trouble with any of them.
RHS then put the game away by the slaughter rule in the bottom of the fifth by scoring their final three runs before the Falcons could record even one out. Tristan Musselman started things off with a solid double to right-center and two or three batters later it was all over.
To achieve a shut-out the Gladiators obviously had someone on the mound who was doing his job and that was sophomore Asher Falls, who worked all five innings and set the Falcons down on just 70 pitches. We will never know if the couple dozen Falcon fans who made the trip might have been the vocal type because Falls gave them absolutely nothing to get excited about.
If Central had more than a hit or two I don't recall them and they never mounted any kind of serious threat. The RHS defense helped support Falls by playing an error-free game. As stated earlier, this was probably the Big Red's most dominant game of the season, considering the caliber and potential of the opponent.
The Big Red will be right back in action again tomorrow (which might be today depending on when you read this!) as they will host The Staunton Storm in a Shenandoah District contest. The Gladiators will hope to improve upon their 2-1 district record and stay in the race as next week's two games will be on the road at Buffalo Gap and Fort Defiance. After today's win, RHS is now 8-1 on the season.
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