The first thing that needs to be said, the city of Chicago (you know, the Windy City) has nothing compared to Riverheads' ball field in the spring. More about this later.
Riverheads squeaked out an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth and held on to beat Buffalo Gap 1-0 on Thursday. As the score indicated, it was a classic pitcher's duel between the Gladiator's Kyle Bishop and the Bisons' Tyler Wilcher. However, there was plenty of action considering the low score.
You knew after the first two innings that both pitchers were on their game and runs would be limited. Buffalo Gap had the first threat in the top of the third when they had the basses loaded with one out. Bishop bared down and struck out the next two batters looking to get out of the jam. Riverheads had a chance to score in the bottom of the fourth when Ethan Whitehead lofted a one-out fly ball to left field. Now normally, that ball would have fell into the glove of the outfielder. However, the gusty wind kept blowing the ball towards the foul line and the ball fell just inside fair territory. Whitehead went to second on the hit and advanced to third when the outfielder bobbled the ball trying to pick it up. The next batter made solid contact and it looked like Riverheads was going to get on the board. However, Wilcher was right there to snag the grounder and caught Whitehead trying to dive back to third.
Riverheads broke the scoreless tie in the fifth when Taz Miller reached on an infield error, John Weeks sacrifice bunt moved Miller to second. Chance Staton then hit a fly ball to left and this time the wind held the ball in the air but the left fielder, who made a diving attempt, couldn't make the grab and Whitehead came in to score. Buffalo Gap had another chance to score in the sixth with runners on second and third with one out. However, Bishop once again got out of trouble with a short fly ball to right and then struck out his 11th batter to end the inning. Whitehead came in relief in the seventh to pick up the save.
The Gladiators (12-0) will now travel to Elkton on Friday to play East Rockingham (12-1). The game was originally scheduled to start at 5:30. However, I was told a Harrisonburg radio station asked to push back the game so they could broadcast it so it will now begin at 6:00.
Riverheads squeaked out an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth and held on to beat Buffalo Gap 1-0 on Thursday. As the score indicated, it was a classic pitcher's duel between the Gladiator's Kyle Bishop and the Bisons' Tyler Wilcher. However, there was plenty of action considering the low score.
You knew after the first two innings that both pitchers were on their game and runs would be limited. Buffalo Gap had the first threat in the top of the third when they had the basses loaded with one out. Bishop bared down and struck out the next two batters looking to get out of the jam. Riverheads had a chance to score in the bottom of the fourth when Ethan Whitehead lofted a one-out fly ball to left field. Now normally, that ball would have fell into the glove of the outfielder. However, the gusty wind kept blowing the ball towards the foul line and the ball fell just inside fair territory. Whitehead went to second on the hit and advanced to third when the outfielder bobbled the ball trying to pick it up. The next batter made solid contact and it looked like Riverheads was going to get on the board. However, Wilcher was right there to snag the grounder and caught Whitehead trying to dive back to third.
Riverheads broke the scoreless tie in the fifth when Taz Miller reached on an infield error, John Weeks sacrifice bunt moved Miller to second. Chance Staton then hit a fly ball to left and this time the wind held the ball in the air but the left fielder, who made a diving attempt, couldn't make the grab and Whitehead came in to score. Buffalo Gap had another chance to score in the sixth with runners on second and third with one out. However, Bishop once again got out of trouble with a short fly ball to right and then struck out his 11th batter to end the inning. Whitehead came in relief in the seventh to pick up the save.
The Gladiators (12-0) will now travel to Elkton on Friday to play East Rockingham (12-1). The game was originally scheduled to start at 5:30. However, I was told a Harrisonburg radio station asked to push back the game so they could broadcast it so it will now begin at 6:00.
