First of all, that doofus who was caterwauling so much about the weather (oh yeah that was me, wasn't it?) had nothing to worry about as Riverheads and Stuarts Draft got their regional quarterfinal played this afternoon in gorgeous weather. The Gladiators won easily by a 9-0 count and will now play the winner of the Madison/Clarke game on Wednesday in the semifinals. The site for that game will be determined by who wins between those two.
Before I go into detail, I also owe you guys an apology for spreading misinformation about the girls game played today at Riverheads. I was under the impression as mentioned above that they would be playing simultaneously with the boys game. Turns out that they played earlier, at 1:00, and the Lady Gladiators won a tight one 1-0. I was told it was decided by a Clarke County throwing error in the bottom of the sixth. I am not sure who RHS plays next, but given my track record so far this week, maybe I shouldn't say anything at all. Anyway sorry for any confusion but I imagine anyone who really needed to know the time for that game found it out without any trouble and made it to the game, which I understand was over in less than 90 minutes.
OK about the baseball win over the neighboring Cougars......I can honestly say that the Big Red played about the most fundamentally sound game I have seen them play this year. The two pitchers (Ethan Fitzgerald six innings and 78 pitches, and David Austin, a 1/2/3 7th inning) kept the Cougars off the scoreboard, so they obviously got their jobs done.
The Gladiators were solid on defense as well, as they turned at least two double plays that I remember and if they had any errors, I don't recall them. As for their offense, they were the model of consistency, as they scored their first eight runs in pairs, using four well-placed base hits to bring in two runs each.
Third baseman Carson Kuhn had four of those eight RBIs as he gave the Gladiators a 4-0 lead in the second and followed it up with a shot straight up the middle as part of a five-run fifth inning that drove in runs number 7 and 8. While the Cougars were trying unsuccessfully to prevent those runs from scoring, he kept motoring, ended up on third, and eventually scored the ninth Big Red run.
Senior centerfielder Brendon Fortune made it clear that he wanted to keep playing beyond today as he smacked in the first two RBIs in the bottom of the first. Camden Huffer got in the act in the fifth, knocking in the first two of that inning, before Kuhn finished off the scoring surge.
As for the Cougars, they had their chances, with the fourth and fifth frames being especially frustrating for them. In the fourth, the lead-off man smashed Fitzgerald's first pitch deep into the left field corner for a hit that had double written all over it. However he stumbled just before reaching first and had no choice but to hold up there.
The very next batter then hit into a one-pitch double play. The third batter of the inning then grounded out, also on just one pitch, so instead of the Cougars possibly doing some damage that inning, the Gladiators set them down on a combination of three pitches and perfect infield defense.
In the fifth, with the issue still possibly in doubt at 4-0, the visitors put the first two men on base. But the next one popped up and that set the stage for the Gladiators to escape that inning and preserve the shutout.
Hopefully someone will come on here at some point and keep us posted on the Madison/Clarke game so the Big Red will know who and where they play next. I believe that one was a 6:30 start and of course who knows......the weather might not have been as cooperative over that way as it was here today. Regardless, they are promising us great weather the rest of the week, so we should have the regional tournament wrapped up by Friday night.
