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Pulling off its biggest upset win of the year, the Rockbridge County High School baseball team earned a 7-4 road win over previously undefeated Alleghany on Thursday evening in the final game of the regular season.
With the win in nondistrict action, the Wildcats (10-10) bounced back from an 8-7 home loss to Valley District rival Harrisonburg on Wednesday and avenged a 9-3 March 22 loss to Alleghany.
Alleghany, a Class 2 state quarterfinalist last year, was 16-0 going into the game against RC and would fall to 16-2 with a 7-6 loss at Radford on Friday.
The victory helped the Wildcats earn the eighth seed in the Region 3C tournament and a first-round home game today, Wednesday, against ninth-seeded Rustburg (7-12) at 5 p.m. For tournament updates, visit www. thenews-gazette.com.
Thursday’s game was tied 4-4 after six innings before the Wildcats erupted for three runs in the seventh. RC’s Tucker Hopkins doubled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Derek Smith, and Brady Majors singled on a line drive to right field to bring home Cohen Paxton and Tucker Hopkins.
Thrilled by his team’s performance, RC head coach Travis Roadcap said the game was “one for the books.”
Roadcap noted that it was alumni night for Alleghany, with a packed house and retired Alleghany head coach Gary Rice, a hall of famer, throwing out the first pitch. “Great atmosphere, and pulling that win out against a great team is very, very special. I told my guys to take it in because that night was something they would never forget and I certainly will not either. As a coach, you couldn’t be more proud of the way we just relaxed and played.”
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Thomas Armstrong hit a home run to center field. Alleghany tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second when Christopher Harden singled on a line drive to center field to bring home Anthony Webb.
The game remained tied until the top of the sixth, when Hopkins hit a grounder to third base to drive in Clay Irvine, putting the Wildcats up 2-1. The next batter up was Majors, who singled on a line drive to right field to bring home Smith and Paxton, extending RC’s lead to 4-1.
Alleghany answered in the bottom of the sixth when Harden hit a threerun home run to right field, driving in Kole Caldwell and Dalton Griffith to tie the game at 4-4.
After the Wildcats responded with three runs in the top of the seventh, they held the Mountaineers hitless in the bottom of the seventh.
RC racked up 10 hits against Alleghany pitchers Hunter DePriest and Conner McPeek. Majors had two hits and led the Wildcats with four RBIs, and Hopkins added two hits and two RBIs. Adding two hits each for RC were Irvine and Smith. Roadcap said the hits “came at very key moments.”
Harden led the Mountaineers with three hits and four RBIs.
Paxton pitched the first five innings for RC, striking out four and allowing seven hits, three walks and four earned runs. In the final two innings, Zac Majors struck out one and surrendered no hits, no walks and no runs. Roadcap said Paxton and Majors “threw great off the mound.”
The Wildcats committed three errors, while the Mountaineers had one.
Summing up the win, Roadcap said he was “super happy for my guys.”
HHS 8, RC 7
Despite a late rally, the Wildcats suffered an 8-7 loss to Valley District rival Harrisonburg in their final home game of the regular season last Wednesday in Lexington.
With the win, the Blue Streaks (2-14 overall, 1-7 district) snapped a 10-game losing streak and avenged an April 11 10-1 loss to RC in Harrisonburg. The Wildcats, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, finished the regular season 3-5 in the district.
Going over the rematch, Roadcap said, “We just didn’t make plays around our pitchers. Harrisonburg is a very athletic team, and they made plays; we didn’t. We tried to come back late, but our early mental and fielding mistakes cost us big time. As always, proud of my kids for battling back and giving us a chance at the end.”
Before the game, the Wildcats honored their four seniors: Entsminger, Hopkins, Paxton and Smith.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Drew Potter tripled on a fly ball to center field to bring home Brady Majors.
Harrisonburg responded in the fourth when Miguel Fajardo singled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Noel Cano. The Blues Streaks then took a 3-1 lead when Cayden Lucas doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring home Eddy Perez and Fajardo.
Following an RC error in the fifth, the Blue Streaks extended their lead to 5-1 when Perez doubled on a line drive to left field to bring in Cano and Jayden Barnard. Fajardo then tripled on a line drive to right field to drive in Perez, and Fajardo scored on a groundout by Lucas to stretch Harrisonburg’s lead to 7-1.
The Wildcats loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and then scored when Brady Majors walked to bring home Smith. Hopkins then scored on an error by the Harrisonburg catcher, cutting the Blue Streaks’ lead to 7-3.
Harrisonburg scored its final run in the top of the seventh when Fajardo hit a home run to center field, making it 8-3.
The Wildcats scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but they came up just short of tying the game. Irvine doubled on a hard grounder to left field to drive in Price Lunsford, and Smith singled on a line drive to center field to bring home Irvine and Nolan Stines. The Wildcats scored their final run when Hopkins singled on a grounder to third base to drive in Smith. Armstrong then singled on a grounder to left field, but the Blue Streaks ended the game when Brady Majors lined out to Barnard, Harrisonburg’s shortstop at the end of the game.
RC racked up 12 hits against two Harrisonburg pitchers, while Harrisonburg recorded eight hits against three RC pitchers. Smith led the Wildcats with three hits and two RBI and scored two runs, Irvine added two hits and an RBI, and Armstrong had two hits.
Leading Harrisonburg was Fajardo with three hits and three RBIs, while Lucas added two hits and three RBIs.
Bishop Bennett pitched the first three innings for the Wildcats, striking out seven and allowing two hits, two walks and three earned runs. Entsminger pitched the fourth inning, striking out two and surrendering three hits, two walks and four runs (two earned). In the final three innings, Brady Majors struck out three and allowed three hits, one walk and one earned run.
For Harrisonburg, Barnard pitched the first six innings, striking out five and allowing 10 hits, two walks and seven runs (six earned). Sawyer Hook came to the mound for the seventh, surrendering two hits, no walks and no runs.
RC committed two errors, while Harrisonburg had one.
Other than the Harrisonburg loss, the Wildcats have played well, winning six of their last eight games. “I’ll continue to say we’re getting hot at the right time,” said Roadcap. “Being healthy helps. Four freshmen and three sophomore that aren’t young anymore, they are now experienced, and I believe that shows. Having great upperclass leadership helped us get where we are now.
Roadcap added that the Wildcats have beaten “some very quality opponents in those games that are all in the regional tournament. We believe in one another and hope to keep the train rolling.”
