RC Outslugs Staunton

The Rockbridge County High School baseball team split a pair of games last week, earning a 6-5 comeback win at home over Staunton on Thursday before falling at Spotswood 12-1 in six innings on Friday.

Led by two home runs from Clay Irvine that brought in five runs, along with strong pitching from Sean Martino and Brady Edwards, the Wildcats (4-11 overall, 1-7 district) came back from a 4-1 deficit to beat Staunton (3-11).

With the nondistrict victory, the Wildcats avenged a 12-8 road loss to Staunton on March 15.

“I’m very proud of this group,” said RC head coach Travis Roadcap.

Irvine’s second home run came when the Wildcats were down 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, and he hit the ball over the left field fence to drive in Bradi Ziegler and Trevor Hoke.

“That kid’s the real deal,” said Roadcap of Irvine, a junior.

Earlier in the game, Irvine had given RC a 1-0 lead in the first by belting a home run to left field, but the Storm scored the next four runs.

Staunton racked up 11 hits, while RC had seven. Nicholas Bishop led the Storm with three hits, while three Staunton batters each had two hits.

Irvine paced the Wildcats with three hits. Adding one hit each were Hoke, Ziegler, Thomas Armstrong and Brady Majors.

Martino pitched the first three innings for RC, striking out one and allowing eight hits, one walk and four earned runs. Edwards pitched the final four innings, striking out six while surrendering three hits, one walk and one earned run.

Roadcap said he was pleased with both of his pitchers. Martino “threw well, but Brady came in and just closed the door on them,” said Roadcap. “I’m very proud of that kid. He pitches. That’s his role. I can’t express how proud I am of him and Clay tonight.”

“I thought we fielded pretty well, and I thought Armstrong did well [at catcher] behind the plate,” added Roadcap.

For Staunton, John Henderson pitched the first 3.2 innings, striking out six and allowing three hits, two walks and three earned runs. In the final 2.1 innings, Dale Leslie struck out two and permitted four hits, one walk and three earned runs.

RC committed one error, while Staunton had none.

Pleased by his team’s resilience, Roadcap said, “I’ll take any win I can get.”

Spotswood 12, RC 1

Returning to Valley District action on Friday, the Wildcats suffered a 12-1 road loss in five innings to Spotswood.

With the win, the Trailblazers (13-4, 6-3) completed a sweep of the regular-season series with RC. When teams met on April 9 in Lexington, Spotswood won 8-0.

In the rematch, Spotswood scored two runs in the first and added three runs in the second before erupting for five runs in the third to go up 8-0. The Blazers scored their final two runs in the fourth.

The Wildcats’ lone run came in the fifth when Irvine doubled on a fly ball to center field to bring home Rocky Perlozzo.

Spotswood racked up 11 hits while holding RC to one. Nathan Leslie led the Blazers with three hits, while eight different Spotswood players each had one hit.

On the mound, Carter Lenz pitched all five innings for Spotswood, striking out five and allowing one hit, four walks and one earned run.

Majors pitched the first 2.1 innings for RC, surrendering eight hits, three walks and 10 runs (nine earned). Eli Sorrells pitched the final 1.2 innings, striking out one and allowing three hits, one walk and two earned runs.

RC committed two errors, while Spotswood had none.

The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Turner Ashby yesterday and will have a home game against local rival Parry McCluer today, Wednesday, at 5 p.m. before returning to district action at William Monroe on Friday at 6 p.m. RC will play at Broadway on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. before concluding the regular season when they play host to East Rockingham next Thursday, May 16, at 5 p.m.