Riverheads 2, Page County 1
- Thread starter jhwright
- Start date
Maybe not a bad loss for Page. Can awaken the senses a bit and here’s to a new start of another streak
At your service! What we witnessed tonight was a clear demonstration of why each team will be heavily favored to defend its state title this year. We had a classic pitcher's duel through five innings in which the teams combined for something like three hits as both Williams and Riverheads junior Elijah Dunlap were effectively controlling the other team's heavy hitters. Page was clinging to a 1-0 lead from a solo homer by Noah Hammer back in the second inning, and for most of the game it looked like that single run might hold up.
But Riverheads staged a two-out rally in the sixth to tie the score and then in the seventh, the bats really came alive as the Big Red finally solved the mystery of Williams as they drilled the sophomore for three hits and stunned the visitors in walk-off fashion with the winning RBI coming courtesy of pint-sized freshman Aiden Miller.
The win means nothing in terms of district standings as Page had already clinched the regular season. Nor will it affect either team's playoff position for either the district or regional playoffs. But the Riverheads dogpile along the first base line told a different story as the Gladiators celebrated what truly was a satisfying win.
Dunlap of course earned the win, as he struck out nine and held the Panthers to only two hits according to the post-game wrap-up. One of those was of course Hammer's solo shot, which cleared the center field fence at around 360 feet. Two batters later, another Panther appeared to deliver a second roundtripper, which many of us thought stayed inside the pole deep in the left corner. But the man in blue behind the plate waved it foul, and there was not much argument from the Page dugout. Little did we know that we had seen the last Page run of the night.
Riverheads meanwhile was making solid contact with the ball and did not seem anywhere near as intimidated by Williams as they had been in the earlier 3-0 loss up at Shenandoah. That night he completely handcuffed the Gladiators but tonight they were hitting the ball from the get-go, although they had some tough luck with line drives that kept them scoreless until the final two frames.
Page had recorded the first two outs with very little difficulty in the bottom of the sixth, when Grant Painter got the key hit Riverheads needed to start the rally cry. He slammed a double deep to the fence in the gap between left and center and then teammate Michael Robertson brought him home with a solid hit of his own to switch the momentum clearly over to the side of the home team.
Page then went down in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the final Gladiator rally, which they accomplished in less than five minutes time. Dunlap helped his own cause as he opened the inning by hitting a hard grounder to short. He put just enough spin and hop on it that he was able to beat out the throw to first, giving the Big Red that all-important lead-off man on base.
It was only fitting that the only two Riverheads seniors who were being honored tonight factored into the victory as first Jakob King laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move Dunlap to second. The other senior, Forrest Shuey, then rapped one into short left field that momentarily looked like it might be the game-winner. But Coach Painter showed us why he makes the big bucks as he wisely held up Dunlap at third, sensing that a play at the plate might not have gone in the Big Red's favor.
With runners at the corners and still only one out, Miller stepped up to the plate. He and some of the other younger Gladiators had still not been able to solve the mystery of Williams, but just when the team needed him the most, he stroked a 1-2 pitch deep into right. We knew it was going to be enough for Dunlap to tag up and score anyway, but the right-fielder could not make the play and the celebration began.
The exhilarating victory was helped along by gorgeous weather as there was no rain threat and even the usually-annoying Greenville wind took the night off. Not only that but an overflow crowd was on hand because the JV teams had postponed their contest and there was the usual softball, soccer, etc. all going on as well.
Although the major news today was about the football coaching situation, fans will hopefully also remember this as the day the Gladiators snapped the Panthers' win streak. Hopefully it might also be the day that Dunlap gets some notice himself as a pitcher, coming just a week after he tamed Wilson in another great performance.
I will leave it to the appropriate parties to announce the details of the football situation in the correct fashion, but will simply say that any sports fan with any heart at all will understand completely once the real story is known. You can bet that the entire Riverheads community stands behind Coach Wheeler and what he is going through and if he was not already feeling like a Gladiator, he will be before all is said and done.
But Riverheads staged a two-out rally in the sixth to tie the score and then in the seventh, the bats really came alive as the Big Red finally solved the mystery of Williams as they drilled the sophomore for three hits and stunned the visitors in walk-off fashion with the winning RBI coming courtesy of pint-sized freshman Aiden Miller.
The win means nothing in terms of district standings as Page had already clinched the regular season. Nor will it affect either team's playoff position for either the district or regional playoffs. But the Riverheads dogpile along the first base line told a different story as the Gladiators celebrated what truly was a satisfying win.
Dunlap of course earned the win, as he struck out nine and held the Panthers to only two hits according to the post-game wrap-up. One of those was of course Hammer's solo shot, which cleared the center field fence at around 360 feet. Two batters later, another Panther appeared to deliver a second roundtripper, which many of us thought stayed inside the pole deep in the left corner. But the man in blue behind the plate waved it foul, and there was not much argument from the Page dugout. Little did we know that we had seen the last Page run of the night.
Riverheads meanwhile was making solid contact with the ball and did not seem anywhere near as intimidated by Williams as they had been in the earlier 3-0 loss up at Shenandoah. That night he completely handcuffed the Gladiators but tonight they were hitting the ball from the get-go, although they had some tough luck with line drives that kept them scoreless until the final two frames.
Page had recorded the first two outs with very little difficulty in the bottom of the sixth, when Grant Painter got the key hit Riverheads needed to start the rally cry. He slammed a double deep to the fence in the gap between left and center and then teammate Michael Robertson brought him home with a solid hit of his own to switch the momentum clearly over to the side of the home team.
Page then went down in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the final Gladiator rally, which they accomplished in less than five minutes time. Dunlap helped his own cause as he opened the inning by hitting a hard grounder to short. He put just enough spin and hop on it that he was able to beat out the throw to first, giving the Big Red that all-important lead-off man on base.
It was only fitting that the only two Riverheads seniors who were being honored tonight factored into the victory as first Jakob King laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move Dunlap to second. The other senior, Forrest Shuey, then rapped one into short left field that momentarily looked like it might be the game-winner. But Coach Painter showed us why he makes the big bucks as he wisely held up Dunlap at third, sensing that a play at the plate might not have gone in the Big Red's favor.
With runners at the corners and still only one out, Miller stepped up to the plate. He and some of the other younger Gladiators had still not been able to solve the mystery of Williams, but just when the team needed him the most, he stroked a 1-2 pitch deep into right. We knew it was going to be enough for Dunlap to tag up and score anyway, but the right-fielder could not make the play and the celebration began.
The exhilarating victory was helped along by gorgeous weather as there was no rain threat and even the usually-annoying Greenville wind took the night off. Not only that but an overflow crowd was on hand because the JV teams had postponed their contest and there was the usual softball, soccer, etc. all going on as well.
Although the major news today was about the football coaching situation, fans will hopefully also remember this as the day the Gladiators snapped the Panthers' win streak. Hopefully it might also be the day that Dunlap gets some notice himself as a pitcher, coming just a week after he tamed Wilson in another great performance.
I will leave it to the appropriate parties to announce the details of the football situation in the correct fashion, but will simply say that any sports fan with any heart at all will understand completely once the real story is known. You can bet that the entire Riverheads community stands behind Coach Wheeler and what he is going through and if he was not already feeling like a Gladiator, he will be before all is said and done.
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