Prep baseball: Riverheads snap Page County's 43-game winning streak
News Virginian
GREENVILLE — Riverheads freshman Aidan Miller drove in the winning with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday to lift the Gladiators to a 2-1 victory over Page County in Shenandoah District baseball action.
The Riverheads' victory snapped Page's 43-game winning streak.
"These guys have been playing well and today they came ready to play," Riverheads head coach Rodney Painter said of his team.
The contest was a classic pitching duel with Riverheads junior Elijah Dunlap matching zeroes with Page's sophomore sensation T.R. Williams who has already given a verbal commitment to play for the Virginia Tech Hokes.
Page got on the board first when Noah Hammer lined a homer over the right-center field fence to lead off the top of the second inning.
The score remained 1-0 until the sixth when the Gladiators pushed across the tying run. With two outs, Riverheads junior shortstop Grant Painter, a James Madison Dukes commit, lined a double to the gap in left-center. Michael Robertson followed with a single through the right side of the infield and Painter beat the throw to the plate as the Gladiators pulled even at 1-1.
Dunlap hit the first batter in the top of the seventh, but retired the next three hitters on a fly ball to center and two strikeouts to keep the game tied.
Dunlap then led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to the hole at short to put the go-ahead run on base. Jakob King then moved Dunlap into scoring position with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Forrest Shuey then lined a single to left, but Dunlap had to stop at third, leaving the Gladiators with runners on the corners with one out.
With the infield playing in and the outfield also pulled in, Miller stepped to the plate. The Riverheads freshman was in the hole with a one ball, two strike count, but his long fly ball sailed over the right-fielder's head for the game-winning hit.
Dunlap won the duel between two of the top pitchers in the district as he limited the Page offense to just three hits. Dunlap struck out nine, walked one and hit a batter.
"The way Elijah is pitching, he's one of the best in the district," said Painter. He's not going to overpower you, but he's got three pitches he can throw for strikes at any time in the count."
Williams took the first loss of his high school career, allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one.
In the first meeting of the year, Williams dominated the Gladiators lineup in a 3-0 Panthers win as he allowed just one hit while striking out 13. Painter thought his hitters had a better game plan in Thursday's contest.
"I thought we had a great approach at plate," said Painter. "We were more aggressive early in the count and didn't dig a big hole. We hit some balls hard and we had some productive outs. There in the seventh when we needed to get a bunt down we executed. The kids really played well."
The game ended the regular season for the Gladiators and they will enter the district tournament as the No. 2 seed. Page County is back in action Friday with a home game against Robert E. Lee.
Riverheads 2, Page County 1
PAGE COUNTY;010;000;0;—;1;3;0
RIVERHEADS;000;001;1;—;2;7;1
Williams and Gordon. Dunlap and Shuey.
WP — Dunlap. LP — Williams. HR — Hammer (PC) 2nd, no one on.