Riverheads wrapped up a highly successful week this afternoon in which they picked up three wins in a period of four days, scoring an average of 12 runs per contest. Today's home game with Buffalo Gap was iffy most of the day because of the threat of rain, but there were just some sprinkles here and there, nothing hard enough to interfere, as the Big Red treated the home fans to a resounding 13-4 win over their arch-rivals.
The game got off to a mildly shaky start for both teams as each starting pitcher encountered some wildness. In one of the odder statistics you will ever hear, each team left the bases loaded in the first inning and each one scored its first run, but yet neither team recorded a hit. Instead that first stanza featured a number of walks, a hit batsman or two, and some fielding errors. The teams in fact would go on to combine for a total of eight errors on the day, something both coaches will no doubt focus on moving forward.
The key strategic move on the part of Riverheads' coach Rodney Painter that led to the victory came in the middle of the Bison's first at-bat. He was able to tell pretty early that his starter Levi Dunlap was just not "on," so he pulled him in favor of freshman phenom Holden Fitzgerald, who has been one of the Gladiators' steadier arms thus far this season. Fitzgerald held the Bison in check for the remainder of the first, his teammates tied the game in the bottom of that opening frame, and the Gladiator bats really came alive in the next three innings to take control of the game.
After the first inning ended in a 1-1 deadlock, RHS moved in front 4-1 after two and then appeared to break it open with two more runs in the third. However, the Bison then had their only successful inning at the plate as they recorded a couple of solid hits in the fourth and momentarily got back in the game as they tallied three runs to close the gap to 6-4.
But in the bottom of the same frame, RHS removed all doubt about the final outcome as they put up a five spot to move in front 11-4. By that time the threat of rain had died down but fans were beginning to get a little bit restless over the length of the game as those first four innings took about 90 minutes to play. Riverheads does not have lights so anytime it gets close to 7:00 and there is still plenty of ball to play, things can get a little bit uneasy in Greenville.
By contrast the softball game next door had moved along much faster as the Lady Bison squeezed out a 2-1 win. That was RHS' second one-run loss of the week, as they dropped a 1-0 decision at Stuarts Draft Tuesday.
Finally the fifth inning moved along a bit quicker as it was the only one of the day in which neither team scored. RHS then tallied its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth and in fact had a potential slaughter-rule 14th run just 90 feet away when the inning ended. The Bison then went quietly in the top of the 7th, as the game finally wrapped up at the noticeably-darker hour of 7:40.
With the win, the Gladiators are now 2-0 in district play. That is especially impressive considering that Riverheads is extremely young this year. They have only two seniors on the team and some key positions are manned by freshmen and sophomores. They have only one game on tap next week, but it will be a biggie as they will travel to Fort Defiance on Tuesday.
Word in the stands was that Buffalo Gap had outslugged the Indians 21-15 earlier this week, but in the expect-the-unexpected nature of the Shenandoah, that comparative score will not mean diddly when Tuesday rolls around. Nevertheless, Coach Painter has to be tickled pink (or red as the case may be) about the idea of such a young team outscoring two of its district rivals 25-4 to open conference play. Throw in Monday's 11-4 non-district win over Harrisonburg, and Riverheads crossed the plate 36 times this week. Not too shabby as they say!!!!
The game got off to a mildly shaky start for both teams as each starting pitcher encountered some wildness. In one of the odder statistics you will ever hear, each team left the bases loaded in the first inning and each one scored its first run, but yet neither team recorded a hit. Instead that first stanza featured a number of walks, a hit batsman or two, and some fielding errors. The teams in fact would go on to combine for a total of eight errors on the day, something both coaches will no doubt focus on moving forward.
The key strategic move on the part of Riverheads' coach Rodney Painter that led to the victory came in the middle of the Bison's first at-bat. He was able to tell pretty early that his starter Levi Dunlap was just not "on," so he pulled him in favor of freshman phenom Holden Fitzgerald, who has been one of the Gladiators' steadier arms thus far this season. Fitzgerald held the Bison in check for the remainder of the first, his teammates tied the game in the bottom of that opening frame, and the Gladiator bats really came alive in the next three innings to take control of the game.
After the first inning ended in a 1-1 deadlock, RHS moved in front 4-1 after two and then appeared to break it open with two more runs in the third. However, the Bison then had their only successful inning at the plate as they recorded a couple of solid hits in the fourth and momentarily got back in the game as they tallied three runs to close the gap to 6-4.
But in the bottom of the same frame, RHS removed all doubt about the final outcome as they put up a five spot to move in front 11-4. By that time the threat of rain had died down but fans were beginning to get a little bit restless over the length of the game as those first four innings took about 90 minutes to play. Riverheads does not have lights so anytime it gets close to 7:00 and there is still plenty of ball to play, things can get a little bit uneasy in Greenville.
By contrast the softball game next door had moved along much faster as the Lady Bison squeezed out a 2-1 win. That was RHS' second one-run loss of the week, as they dropped a 1-0 decision at Stuarts Draft Tuesday.
Finally the fifth inning moved along a bit quicker as it was the only one of the day in which neither team scored. RHS then tallied its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth and in fact had a potential slaughter-rule 14th run just 90 feet away when the inning ended. The Bison then went quietly in the top of the 7th, as the game finally wrapped up at the noticeably-darker hour of 7:40.
With the win, the Gladiators are now 2-0 in district play. That is especially impressive considering that Riverheads is extremely young this year. They have only two seniors on the team and some key positions are manned by freshmen and sophomores. They have only one game on tap next week, but it will be a biggie as they will travel to Fort Defiance on Tuesday.
Word in the stands was that Buffalo Gap had outslugged the Indians 21-15 earlier this week, but in the expect-the-unexpected nature of the Shenandoah, that comparative score will not mean diddly when Tuesday rolls around. Nevertheless, Coach Painter has to be tickled pink (or red as the case may be) about the idea of such a young team outscoring two of its district rivals 25-4 to open conference play. Throw in Monday's 11-4 non-district win over Harrisonburg, and Riverheads crossed the plate 36 times this week. Not too shabby as they say!!!!
