Riverheads in 1A championship

[Baseball215]

Riverheads won 7-1 , Riverheads play really good defense and used Northumberlands mistakes to come out on top they play Honaker tomorrow for the title

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Back in the 70s, that rock dude Meatloaf gave us all words of wisdom to live by in his song "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad." Well here in 2018, down in the first state semi-final at Radford University, the Northumberland Indians pretty much outplayed Riverheads in two of baseball's three major categories......hitting and pitching. But that third one, fielding, can sometimes do you in and it certainly did today as the Indians committed a devastating seven errors, allowing Riverheads to run away with the win.

Thanks to baseball215 above for the Honaker update, which I had not yet heard. So the Gladiators will now battle tomorrow for their second state title in five years. To my knowledge it will be their first ever meeting against Honaker in any sport.

The Indians outhit Riverheads 8-5 today, and in fact, they had at least one man on base in every single inning. Twice in fact they had men on second and third with one out and each time RHS worked out of the jam. So in addition to the costly errors, it was a case of not taking advantage of their opportunities, especially in the early going.

That same 8-5 hit advantage would also seem to indicate that NHS gave the better effort on the mound. Their two hurlers scattered the five Big Red hits so that the Gladiators never had that one monster swing that got the job done. Instead due to all the errors, I would be surprised if more than one or two at the most of the Gladiator runs were earned. Riverheads' starter Jakob King on the other hand gave up the one Indians run in the top of the first and was then relieved by Casey Butler in the third when it looked like it just wasn't going to be his day.

The Indians, batting first, came out swinging as they would all day, and their lanky first baseman (#3) ripped one just over the head of the Gladiator second baseman Elijah Dunlap and it rolled all the way to the fence. There was already a runner on first and he was given the go-ahead to come all the way around, much to the delight of a spirited Indian crowd, who seemed to have at least one sign posted for every fan in attendance.

The visitors got men in scoring position again in the second but could not push them across, as they were clearly the better team in the early going. Meanwhile their starting pitcher sent RHS down in order in the first two frames, which is not an easy thing to do.

In the top of the third, the lead-off man reached for Northumberland, giving them their third straight chance to do some damage. Although the score was still only 1-0, Coach Painter saw something in his starter that told him he did not have his best stuff today, so he lifted him, which turned out to be a wise decision as Butler went the rest of the game with no further scoring.

Perhaps that decision also motivated the Big Red offense as they got their big break and scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of that same frame. It started with what could have been a routine double-play ball. RHS had finally managed to get someone on base, although it was either by a walk or hit by pitch (don't remember which.) So when the next batter hit a grounder to third, the chance for the DP was there for the taking.

Instead the throw skipped into the outfield where it was misplayed a second time, charging the Indians with two miscues on the same play. The runner who had been on first came all the way around to score RHS' first run of the day. Yet another error followed, another walk or two, and when the dust settled the Gladiators had plated four runs on just one hit but three Northumberland errors.

The Big Red tacked on a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to settle the issue for sure. They were helped out along the way by two errant throws to first base and yet another one from third to second.

The Gladiators on the other hand conducted a clinic in the field with no errors and in fact had some highly athletic catches to rob the Indians' of potential hits. They also recorded two double plays, including an inning-ending one in the fourth when the Indians missed a golden opportunity to get back in the game.

With runners on first and second, NHS hit a high, hard one toward shortstop Grant Painter. At first it looked like it would clear him and score at least one run. But he leaped high for the catch and then tossed the ball to Dunlap to double up the guy on second who had strayed too far off the bag.

The Gladiators' only fielding error, if you can call it that, came in the top of the 7th when the game was long-decided. A fly ball was hit to right/ center and two RHS outfielders converged on it. But they did not communicate and the ball dropped in safely for the eighth Indian hit of the game. But even that one was ruled a hit, leaving Riverheads with a goose egg in the error column.

If the Big Red can capture the title tomorrow, it will be quite an accomplishment, given the youth of the team. I believe they only graduated three or four seniors, and the team is sophomore-dominated, with even one freshman getting significant PT. Great season regardless of what happens tomorrow.

 

[shendistrictsportsfan]

Just FYI

RHS soccer actually beat Honaker in the semifinal on the way to the state title in 2016.

 

[Baseball215]

Yes I setting there today we had an entire infield of sophomores and junior catcher, the future is bright and hopefully tomorrow is the beginning of run championships but we all know they don’t come easy and there is no guarantee you will be back got to continue to work hard

 

[Baseball215]

That’s including pitcher and pitcher on the hill tomorrow more than likely will be sophmore

 

[Bill Ahrens]

Any radio or other coverage?