In a game in which the final score does not really tell the story of the game, the Gladiators posted a quarter-final Region 1-B victory this afternoon over the Rappahannock County Panthers. The Big Red will now advance to the semi-finals, which they will host on Tuesday, June 2 as the number one seed. They will host the winner of the game between the 4 and 5 seeds, which I believe was also played today between Altavista and Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy. I will try to find out more about that game over the weekend.
As for this game at Riverheads, the final score was indeed very deceptive because it was a 1-0 pitchers' duel entering the bottom of the fifth and therefore still very much in doubt. But the bottom fell completely out for the visitors as RHS scored five runs in the fifth and then added four more in the sixth to end the game half an inning early.
You might think the Gladiators scored all those runs by pounding out a bunch of hits down the stretch. But that is not the case at all. The game instead turned in their favor due to a variety of wild pitches, throwing errors, hit batters, walks, and dropped fly balls. As for hits, I have not seen a box score but with so many plays being ruled as errors, I would be surprised if the Big Red recorded more than 4-5 legitimate hits due to a pitching effort from RappCo that actually bordered on excellent at times. The starter especially did a great job but just did not get the support he needed from his defense.
That starter (junior Xavier Todd) battled RHS starter (freshman Jackson Berkstresser) through two very quick innings to start the game. Berkstresser in fact recorded the first six Panther outs on just 14 pitches. However, he was mainly inducing grounders and fly outs. Todd on the other hand walked the first two Gladiators he faced, and they even advanced to second and third with no outs. But he then put the hammer down and struck out three in a row to end the first inning, and then K-O'd two more to open the second. His pitch count was therefore higher than Berkstresser's but he was getting the job done in his own way.
Finally each team got the offense going in the third. RappCo opened the inning with consecutive hits but the Gladiators worked out of that jam. Brody Phillips then opened the home half of the inning with a towering shot to deep centerfield. It looked like it would be a routine out but the guy simply dropped it. That was ruled an error, keeping the Gladiators hitless at that point. However, Phillips stole third and came home to score on a perfectly-executed squeeze play by Ethan Mulcahy.
The Panthers had another scoring threat in the fifth but again failed to produce. By that time, Phillips had relieved Berkstresser, which was most likely a planned strategy from the beginning. After he sent the visitors back to the dugout with another goose egg, he led off the fifth just as he had the third.
He beat out a slow-roller down the third base line to open the inning and in no time at all found his way to third. He scored this time on a wild pitch and that opened up the floodgates. Anything that could go wrong for the Panthers did in that fateful inning. They brought on a reliever and the Gladiators roughed him up as well. However, as already mentioned, pitching was not the downfall of the Panthers, it was their defense and fielding as they dropped at least two more routine fly balls in those final two innings.
Congrats to the Big Red and let's see a nice home crowd on Tuesday. If I understand the format, the winner of that game not only advances to the regional final, but also earns a berth in the state tournament.
As for this game at Riverheads, the final score was indeed very deceptive because it was a 1-0 pitchers' duel entering the bottom of the fifth and therefore still very much in doubt. But the bottom fell completely out for the visitors as RHS scored five runs in the fifth and then added four more in the sixth to end the game half an inning early.
You might think the Gladiators scored all those runs by pounding out a bunch of hits down the stretch. But that is not the case at all. The game instead turned in their favor due to a variety of wild pitches, throwing errors, hit batters, walks, and dropped fly balls. As for hits, I have not seen a box score but with so many plays being ruled as errors, I would be surprised if the Big Red recorded more than 4-5 legitimate hits due to a pitching effort from RappCo that actually bordered on excellent at times. The starter especially did a great job but just did not get the support he needed from his defense.
That starter (junior Xavier Todd) battled RHS starter (freshman Jackson Berkstresser) through two very quick innings to start the game. Berkstresser in fact recorded the first six Panther outs on just 14 pitches. However, he was mainly inducing grounders and fly outs. Todd on the other hand walked the first two Gladiators he faced, and they even advanced to second and third with no outs. But he then put the hammer down and struck out three in a row to end the first inning, and then K-O'd two more to open the second. His pitch count was therefore higher than Berkstresser's but he was getting the job done in his own way.
Finally each team got the offense going in the third. RappCo opened the inning with consecutive hits but the Gladiators worked out of that jam. Brody Phillips then opened the home half of the inning with a towering shot to deep centerfield. It looked like it would be a routine out but the guy simply dropped it. That was ruled an error, keeping the Gladiators hitless at that point. However, Phillips stole third and came home to score on a perfectly-executed squeeze play by Ethan Mulcahy.
The Panthers had another scoring threat in the fifth but again failed to produce. By that time, Phillips had relieved Berkstresser, which was most likely a planned strategy from the beginning. After he sent the visitors back to the dugout with another goose egg, he led off the fifth just as he had the third.
He beat out a slow-roller down the third base line to open the inning and in no time at all found his way to third. He scored this time on a wild pitch and that opened up the floodgates. Anything that could go wrong for the Panthers did in that fateful inning. They brought on a reliever and the Gladiators roughed him up as well. However, as already mentioned, pitching was not the downfall of the Panthers, it was their defense and fielding as they dropped at least two more routine fly balls in those final two innings.
Congrats to the Big Red and let's see a nice home crowd on Tuesday. If I understand the format, the winner of that game not only advances to the regional final, but also earns a berth in the state tournament.