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The Rockbridge County High School baseball team split a pair of nondistrict games in its first week of action, coming up short 4-3 at Fort Defiance before bouncing back with an 8-3 home win over Staunton on Friday.
Against Fort, the Wildcats nearly came back from a 4-1 deficit by scoring two runs in the seventh inning, but the Indians (2-0) ended the rally with a catch in left field.
RC took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Cohen Paxton singled on a hard grounder to center field to bring home Clay Irvine.
The Indians answered back in the bottom of the first when Jace Cole singled on a line drive to center field to bring home Isaac Marshall and Samuel Garber, giving Fort a 2-1 lead.
Fort added another run in the third when Jack Liskey doubled on a fly ball to center field to drive in Garber. In the fourth, the Indians extended their lead to 4-1 when Marshall doubled on a fly ball to right field to drive in Dillon Lavaway.
In the seventh, the Wildcats scored two runs when Derek Smith doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring home Brady Majors and Nolan Stines. However, RC’s comeback ended when Lavaway caught Paxton’s fly ball in left field.
Fort recorded six hits, while the Wildcats had five hits against three pitchers.
Paxton pitched a complete game for RC, striking out eight and allowing six hits, three walks and four earned runs.
Fort committed one error, while RC had none.
RC 8, Staunton 3
Fueled by back-to-back home runs on back-to-back pitches in the fourth inning by Irvine and Smith, the Wildcats defeated Staunton 8-3 in their home opener on Friday.
“Clay Irvine and Derek Smith have played extremely well the first two games,” said RC head coach Travis Roadcap.
Junior Sean Martino pitched a complete game for the Wildcats, striking out five and allowing just two hits, one walk and two earned runs.
“Sean Martino threw a gem against Staunton – so very proud and happy for him,” said Roadcap.
It rained periodically, but the weather didn’t seem to bother the Wildcats.
RC took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Paxton singled on a line drive to field to bring home Irvine.
Staunton (0-2) responded with a two-run homer to left field by John Henderson, taking a 2-1 lead in the second.
RC recaptured the lead in the third. Paxton singled on a hard grounder to the shortstop to drive in Irvine, and Paxton scored on a passed ball to put the Wildcats up 3-2.
In the fourth, the Wildcats racked up five runs to pull away. Irvine belted a two-run homer on a fly ball to center field, bringing home Majors, and Smith homered on a fly ball to left field to make it 6-2. The Wildcats scored their final two runs when Drew Potter singled on a fly ball to center field to drive in Paxton and Thomas Armstrong, extending their lead to 8-2.
The Wildcats amassed eight hits against two Staunton pitchers. Irvine led RC with three hits and had two RBIs, and Paxton added two hits and two RBIs. Recording Staunton’s two hits were Toby Oakes and John Henderson with one hit each.
Neither team committed an error.
Moving forward, the Wildcats look to improve on last year’s season, when they went 10-12 overall and 3-5 in the Valley District, advancing to the Region 3C tournament, where they beat Fort Defiance 8-4 in the first round before concluding their season with a 15-0 loss at Spotswood in the quarterfinals.
From last year’s team, the Wildcats graduated six players, led by two all-district second team selections, pitcher Will Murdock and first baseman Austin Higgins.
The Wildcats return eight players. Smith, one of six seniors, was an all-district second team selection as a third baseman last year. Other experienced seniors returning are Paxton, Tucker Entsminger, Tucker Hopkins and Peyton Matz. Senior Ehren Watkins joins the varsity team, and the Wildcats return Martino, a junior, along with sophomores Irvine and Potter..
Roadcap said the Wildcats are “extremely young” this season, with a roster featuring probably two freshmen and three sophomores starting every game. “They will have to adapt to the varsity speed of the game quickly, and they will get plenty of opportunities to do so against a very solid schedule of opponents,” said Roadcap.
The sophomores are Irvine, a shortstop, and Potter, who got some experience pitching and at third baseman last year, and Stines, a first-year varsity player. The freshmen are Brady Majors and Bishop Bennett. Also new to the varsity level are juniors Armstrong and Zachary Majors.
RC’s assistant coaches are Nick Perlozzo and Jamie Hostetter.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Fort Defiance yesterday and will have home games against Alleghany today, Wednesday, and against James River on Friday. They’ll continue their five-game homestand with a game against Stuarts Draft on Monday. All games are scheduled for 5 p.m.
