Storybook Ending For RC Baseball

Wildcats Defeat East Rockingham On Senior Night, 4-2

Ending a rebuilding year on a high note, the Rockbridge County High School baseball team split a pair of Valley District games last week, suffering a 10-0 road loss to Broadway last Wednesday before earning a 4-2 home win over East Rockingham on Thursday.

With the win over East Rockingham, the Wildcats (5-15 overall, 2-10 district) avenged a 13-3 April 23 road loss to the Eagles (14-6, 7-5) and sent their three seniors off in style. ER advanced to this week’s Region 3C tournament.

The seniors, who were honored before the game, are Thomas Armstrong, Zac Majors and Sean Martino.

“It was the perfect ending for my seniors, who all delivered,” said RC head coach Travis Roadcap.

“So very proud and happy for those three seniors,” he added. “It is something that they will never forget for the rest of their lives. I told them, not many seniors get to finish their high school career with a win, especially at home, and there is no better way to end your senior year with a win at home in front of your family, friends and teammates.”

Martino pitched the first six innings and kept the Eagles scoreless while striking out two and allowing five hits and four walks. RC junior Brady Edwards replaced Martino on the mound and got the save, allowing no hits, no walks and two runs.

“Sean Martino truly had the performance of a lifetime on the mound,” said Roadcap. “Sean battled through a nagging injury all year, and for him to leave everything he had out on the mound was incredible to watch. I’ve never seen a player get the type of standing ovation that he did from both home and away teams when he left the mound for the final time. I know he was hurting the next day, whether he will tell anyone or not.”

Armstrong and Majors each recorded a hit, and Majors drew a walk.

Of the three seniors, Majors is the one who plans to continue his baseball career. On April 25, he signed a national letter of intent to play for New River Community College.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when leadoff hitter Clay Irvine, a junior, hit a solo home run to left field. RC made it 2-0 when freshman Eli Sorrells scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by junior Brady Majors.

The Wildcats scored their final two runs in the sixth. Sophomore Trevor Hoke doubled to right field to bring home junior JP Welsh, and freshman Bradi Ziegler scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Irvine, making it 4-0.

The Eagles scored both of their runs in the top of the seventh. Brian O’Neil scored on an RC error, and Alex Jenkins ran home on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ryan Wright. The Wildcats then ended the game with a groundout to first base.

RC recorded seven hits while ER had five. Irvine led RC with two hits and two RBIs. Recording one hit each for the Wildcats were Armstrong, Hoke, Sorrells, Ziegler and Zac Majors. Five different Eagles each had one hit.

On the mound for ER, Ryan Williams pitched the first two innings, striking out two while allowing four hits, one walk and two earned runs. In the final four innings, Kayden Gibson struck out four while surrendering three hits, four walks and two earned runs.

The Wildcats committed three errors, while the Eagles had one.

Reflecting on the win, Roadcap said, “For the year that we had, it was a perfect, storybooktype ending against a really good East Rockingham team.”

Concluding his fifth year as RC’s head coach, Roadcap said, “We dealt with a ton of adversity with injuries between Martino, Armstrong and [junior Nolan] Stines and unfortunate situations, but this group that finished the year on varsity truly put everything together and left it all out there for these seniors, who will certainly be missed. … Our schedule featured six opponents with 14-plus wins, so it was a battle day in and day out in those 12 games, but we got through it and got a lot of freshmen and sophomores quality game reps against really solid teams. Hopefully, that will help them continue to develop in the future.”

In addition to Senior Night, highlights from the season included a pair of big comeback wins at home, 12-11 over Alleghany on April 10 and 6-5 over Staunton on May 2. The Wildcats split a pair of games with local rival Parry McCluer, winning 18-3 in six innings on April 1 in Buena Vista and falling 16-0 in five innings on May 8 in Lexington.

Broadway 10, RC 0

Last Wednesday, the Wildcats suffered a 10-0 road loss in five innings against Broadway (15-4, 9-3).

The Gobblers, who advanced to the Region 3C tournament, had previously beaten RC 8-2 on April 19 in Lexington.

In the rematch, the Gobblers racked up nine hits while holding the Wildcats to one.

Broadway took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bransen Hensley scored on a groundout.

The Gobblers added three runs in the third, on a single and a groundout, and tacked on four more runs in the fourth to go up 8-0.

Broadway scored its final two runs in the fifth when Peyton Allen singled on a fly ball to right field to bring home Colby Fesler and Jacob Messick, ending the game early due to the 10run mercy rule.

Hensley and Fesler led the Gobblers with two hits each, while Brady Majors recorded RC’s lone hit, a double on a line drive to center field in the fifth.

There were no errors in the game.

On the mound, Broadway’s Matthew Kushner earned the win. Pitching all five innings, Kushner struck out nine while allowing two walks.

Junior Drew Potter pitched the first three innings for RC, striking out one while surrendering four hits, three walks and six earned runs. In the final 1.2 innings, Brady Majors struck out one and allowed five hits, two walks and four earned runs.