Colonels Baseball Team Tops Eagles 7-4 For 1st Victory

Posted: March 19, 2015
By MARK SAWYER
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Three days ago the James Wood High School baseball team’s R. Charles Hott Field was more likely to host a fishing tournament then a baseball game because of all the rain and bad weather that hit the area last week.

So it came as no surprise to anyone that the Colonels’ home opener Wednesday evening was in serious jeopardy to say the least.

However after being unable to hold a 7-1 lead in a season-opening loss at Luray on Tuesday the Colonels were determined to get their field ready for play and to see about putting up some nice numbers on their brand new scoreboard.

It didn’t take Wood much time at all to put the new scoreboard to work. After spotting visiting Clarke County a run in the top of the second the Colonels took advantage of a pair of Eagles errors for four runs in the bottom of the second.

The Colonels would later break a 4-4 tie with three unanswered runs and pick up their first victory of the young season by knocking off the Eagles 7-4 in a non-district game.

“Definitely a good bounce-back game from [Tuesday],” said James Wood coach Brent Lockhart. “It was a great rebound. [Our team] came out and swung the bats really well, which was very positive.

“We’ve been swinging it really well. We’ve been inside all winter so our defense is a little shaky and that was the issue [Tuesday] night [at Luray in a 10-8 loss].”

Wood (1-1) totaled seven runs and eight hits to put on the new board which sits out by the fence in right field, but the Eagles put some numbers up on their side as well.

Clarke County (1-1) also had eight hits, but the biggest number for the Eagles (outside of their errors) didn’t show up on the scoreboard. It was the 11 runners the Eagles left on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice and then stranding runners on second and third in the seventh inning.

“To lose a game by three runs while stranding 11 runners and committing three errors is kind of a tough one to swallow,” Clarke County coach Jon Novick said. “Twice we had bases loaded and couldn’t get a run across. We’re scoring some runs, we just needed that extra hit or two today to get some extra runs. I’m happy with the way we’re hitting.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff we can learn from. A lot of learning situations that we can spend some time on. This is only the third time we’ve been on a field this year and they’re situations we haven’t had a chance to work through, so now we have something to work on. I’m happy with where we’re at and the improvements on the offense.”

Clarke County took an early 1-0 lead in the second thanks to some clutch two-out hitting. Catcher Mike Fields led off the inning with a single to right.

However, two outs later it appeared courtesy runner Will Roper would be stranded at first. But Hayden Good stroked a two-out single to center and Kevin Ryan followed that up with an RBI single to center, making it 1-0.

The Colonels came right back in their half of the second and put together a four-run rally.

With one out it appeared Colonels first baseman Eli Warren would be the second out when he popped up in the infield. However, miscommunication led to a misplay and Warren was safe at first with a single.

Third baseman Joel Smith followed with a single to right center and catcher Cohen Kerns reached on an error to load the bases.

Cameron Bias’ two run single gave the Colonels the lead and Brady Hepner’s RBI single made it 3-1. KaCee Duggan lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Bias to finish up the rally and give Wood a 4-1 lead.

Clarke fought right back in the third, scoring three to tie it up at 4. Leadoff hitter Jordon Turner started the rally with a single, followed by a walk to Travis Elsea. One out later back-to-back RBI singles by Fields and Cody Santmyer pulled the Eagles to within one.

Later in the inning courtesy runner Roper scored to tie the game when Ryan reached on a dropped third strike that went all the way to the backstop.

Wood took the lead for good on a two-out RBI single by Kerns in the bottom of the third and they added two more runs in the fourth for a three-run cushion.

The Colonels bullpen of Reid Barber and Kris Malsch were nothing short of outstanding. The duo combined to shut out the Eagles over the last 42/3 innings of the game, allowing just two hits and three walks. Barber (1-0) worked 2 innings, allowing one hit, and Malsch (2 for 3 with an RBI) got the save.

Fields was 3 for 4 with an RBI. Roper scored twice for the Eagles.