In the world of sports, they say it is not important how you start but how you finish, and the Riverheads Gladiators treated their fans to one of the most dramatic endings we have seen in years this evening as Camden Huffer stroked a walk-off grand slam to snatch an 8-5 victory from a gutsy Clarke County team that seemed to be on the verge of a second straight road upset. But thanks to that last-second smash, the Big Red is instead the team headed to Buckingham on Friday for the Region 2-B championship.
I believe I heard that the Knights beat Luray 2-0 in the other semi-final, wiping out the field of Bull Run teams that had advanced to the playoffs. Regardless of the accuracy of that score, the most important thing is that RHS and Buckingham clinched state tournament berths with those two wins today. Friday's winner will not only claim the Region B trophy, but they will get to host a first-round state playoff game against the Region A runner-up.
To give credit where it is due, the visiting Eagles today played a very solid game and in fact Riverheads only held the lead one other time in the entire contest, prior to the game winner. Clarke started off with a bang as the first three batters hit safely off starter Brody Phillips. However he soon settled into more of a rhythm and in a stat that we now know was pretty darn important, the Eagles only plated one run in the first as they left guys stranded on second and third.
Riverheads then matched that run in the bottom of the first without benefit of a hit. However they too could have done more damage but also left two runners in scoring position.
Clarke rapped out another hit to open the second but failed to score. Then in the home half of the inning, senior right fielder David Austin sent the first pitch over the left field fence in just about the same spot where Huffer would later deliver the game-winner.
With RHS clinging to a 2-1 lead, Clarke smacked a two-run homer of its own in the top of the third to move back in front 3-2. At that stage, Clarke was up in the 6-7 hit range as compared to only two or three for the Gladiators and as we moved into the middle innings, it was looking more and more like the season could end for the Big Red.
After a scoreless fourth, Clarke then used the oldest play in baseball, the surprise bunt, as they executed two of them perfectly and eventually scored two more runs to take their biggest lead of the game at 5-2. But Riverheads matched those two runs in the bottom of the fifth frame to trim the lead to 5-4.
By this time, Levi Dunlap had taken the mound for the Gladiators and he kept the visitors from scratching in either of their final two at-bats. But when Clarke sent the Big Red down 1/2/3 in the sixth, that set the stage for a huge finish, but we just did not know HOW huge that finish would be!
The lead-off batter lined out to right field for the first out of the seventh, and the Clarke crowd started to dream of a happy trip back I-81. But from that moment on, just about everything unraveled for the visitors and in what seemed like no time at all, RHS loaded the bases, still with just one out.
When Huffer stepped to the plate, the Clarke pitcher (either the second or third of the game) quickly fell behind 2-0 in the count. At that stage the large home crowd was just asking for something simple like a walk to bring in the tying run.
The Eagles yanked that pitcher at that point and put the new guy in the unenviable position of bases loaded and a 2-0 count on the batter. Predictably, his first pitch was ball three and even more predictably Huffer took a strike on the next pitch.
As the next pitch left his bat, the crowd could sense that at the very least, it would be caught deep enough for the guy on third to tag up, and we would have a tie game. Instead the ball kept sailing and cleared the fence for the first grand slam RHS has had in quite some time.
The real irony of that ending is that Riverheads was not exactly known this season for its home run prowess. To the best of my knowledge, the two they hit tonight were only number four and five for the entire season of 22 games. Huffer had not hit any this season, and who knows, this could have been his first ever. If so, he certainly has a story to tell to his grandchildren someday.
So congrats to the Big Red for pulling this one out, but as already mentioned hats are off to the Eagles as well. They may have given up that game-winner but overall I think they had more hits and they played a nice defensive game. But when one swing of the bat can score four runs in a matter of seconds, it makes a big difference.
The news was doubly good for Big Red fans today as the Lady Gladiators sneaked by Strasburg 2-1. The baseball fans were busy craning their necks to keep up with that one as well. So best wishes to the Red Pride as they too clinched a spot in the state tournament with today's win. My sources tell me that Page County is the most likely site for Friday's regional championship, providing the Lady Panthers also won today.
I believe I heard that the Knights beat Luray 2-0 in the other semi-final, wiping out the field of Bull Run teams that had advanced to the playoffs. Regardless of the accuracy of that score, the most important thing is that RHS and Buckingham clinched state tournament berths with those two wins today. Friday's winner will not only claim the Region B trophy, but they will get to host a first-round state playoff game against the Region A runner-up.
To give credit where it is due, the visiting Eagles today played a very solid game and in fact Riverheads only held the lead one other time in the entire contest, prior to the game winner. Clarke started off with a bang as the first three batters hit safely off starter Brody Phillips. However he soon settled into more of a rhythm and in a stat that we now know was pretty darn important, the Eagles only plated one run in the first as they left guys stranded on second and third.
Riverheads then matched that run in the bottom of the first without benefit of a hit. However they too could have done more damage but also left two runners in scoring position.
Clarke rapped out another hit to open the second but failed to score. Then in the home half of the inning, senior right fielder David Austin sent the first pitch over the left field fence in just about the same spot where Huffer would later deliver the game-winner.
With RHS clinging to a 2-1 lead, Clarke smacked a two-run homer of its own in the top of the third to move back in front 3-2. At that stage, Clarke was up in the 6-7 hit range as compared to only two or three for the Gladiators and as we moved into the middle innings, it was looking more and more like the season could end for the Big Red.
After a scoreless fourth, Clarke then used the oldest play in baseball, the surprise bunt, as they executed two of them perfectly and eventually scored two more runs to take their biggest lead of the game at 5-2. But Riverheads matched those two runs in the bottom of the fifth frame to trim the lead to 5-4.
By this time, Levi Dunlap had taken the mound for the Gladiators and he kept the visitors from scratching in either of their final two at-bats. But when Clarke sent the Big Red down 1/2/3 in the sixth, that set the stage for a huge finish, but we just did not know HOW huge that finish would be!
The lead-off batter lined out to right field for the first out of the seventh, and the Clarke crowd started to dream of a happy trip back I-81. But from that moment on, just about everything unraveled for the visitors and in what seemed like no time at all, RHS loaded the bases, still with just one out.
When Huffer stepped to the plate, the Clarke pitcher (either the second or third of the game) quickly fell behind 2-0 in the count. At that stage the large home crowd was just asking for something simple like a walk to bring in the tying run.
The Eagles yanked that pitcher at that point and put the new guy in the unenviable position of bases loaded and a 2-0 count on the batter. Predictably, his first pitch was ball three and even more predictably Huffer took a strike on the next pitch.
As the next pitch left his bat, the crowd could sense that at the very least, it would be caught deep enough for the guy on third to tag up, and we would have a tie game. Instead the ball kept sailing and cleared the fence for the first grand slam RHS has had in quite some time.
The real irony of that ending is that Riverheads was not exactly known this season for its home run prowess. To the best of my knowledge, the two they hit tonight were only number four and five for the entire season of 22 games. Huffer had not hit any this season, and who knows, this could have been his first ever. If so, he certainly has a story to tell to his grandchildren someday.
So congrats to the Big Red for pulling this one out, but as already mentioned hats are off to the Eagles as well. They may have given up that game-winner but overall I think they had more hits and they played a nice defensive game. But when one swing of the bat can score four runs in a matter of seconds, it makes a big difference.
The news was doubly good for Big Red fans today as the Lady Gladiators sneaked by Strasburg 2-1. The baseball fans were busy craning their necks to keep up with that one as well. So best wishes to the Red Pride as they too clinched a spot in the state tournament with today's win. My sources tell me that Page County is the most likely site for Friday's regional championship, providing the Lady Panthers also won today.
