There was a spirited 3-way battle tonight in Greenville..........the two teams playing the game and the fiercer-than-usual wind that just never let anybody get comfortable, either in the stands or on the field. At least it was warm, which made it tolerable.
Anyway, the Big Red avenged an earlier one-run loss as they toppled the visiting Eagles to maintain their hold on second place in the Shenandoah. Each team had some fielding issues tonight, especially at the hot corner, and the wind may have been responsible for some of that.
But each also hit the ball solidly, especially in one action-packed stretch during the middle innings.
We were actually having a pitcher's duel and the Gladiators were only up 2-0 when the pace picked up dramatically.
In the bottom of the fourth, with the game still very much in doubt, the Eagles recorded the first two outs of the inning, but then the bottom fell out and the Gladiators staged a huge two-out rally in which they plated six runs to blow the game open at 8-0. At that point, fans were hoping for two more so we could call it a night and get out of the wind.
However, in East Rock's next at-bat, Riverheads replaced its starting pitcher (Jakob King) even though he was tossing a shutout at the time. It may have been an application of the pitching count rule or maybe he just got tired. But whatever the reason, East Rock greeted the new pitcher (Casey Butler) with a five-run uprising, highlighted by a two-run double by Dalton Jefferson. So in the course of just one at-bat, we went from a near slaughter rule to having a close ball game.
But the Gladiators pushed across an insurance run in the sixth, and Butler settled down and retired the Eagles without further damage over the last two innings. RHS is next slated to play at Buffalo Gap on Tuesday, where things are always interesting.
Anyway, the Big Red avenged an earlier one-run loss as they toppled the visiting Eagles to maintain their hold on second place in the Shenandoah. Each team had some fielding issues tonight, especially at the hot corner, and the wind may have been responsible for some of that.
But each also hit the ball solidly, especially in one action-packed stretch during the middle innings.
We were actually having a pitcher's duel and the Gladiators were only up 2-0 when the pace picked up dramatically.
In the bottom of the fourth, with the game still very much in doubt, the Eagles recorded the first two outs of the inning, but then the bottom fell out and the Gladiators staged a huge two-out rally in which they plated six runs to blow the game open at 8-0. At that point, fans were hoping for two more so we could call it a night and get out of the wind.
However, in East Rock's next at-bat, Riverheads replaced its starting pitcher (Jakob King) even though he was tossing a shutout at the time. It may have been an application of the pitching count rule or maybe he just got tired. But whatever the reason, East Rock greeted the new pitcher (Casey Butler) with a five-run uprising, highlighted by a two-run double by Dalton Jefferson. So in the course of just one at-bat, we went from a near slaughter rule to having a close ball game.
But the Gladiators pushed across an insurance run in the sixth, and Butler settled down and retired the Eagles without further damage over the last two innings. RHS is next slated to play at Buffalo Gap on Tuesday, where things are always interesting.
