Photos by Leigh Downey
The James River baseball team opened the spring season with three wins in the first week of play, heading into spring break with a 3-0 record. The Knights swept a home and away with Parry McCluer around a win over Bath County.
The Knights beat Parry McCluer in Springwood on opening day, 17-1, then traveled to Bath County and Buena Vista for back-to-back road games to close out the first week of play. They won both, taking a 9-6 win over Bath and shutting out Parry McCluer, 10-0.
“Bath really gave us a run for our money,” said River coach Chance Henry. “They came out with a lot of energy and played clean baseball the whole time.”
Evan Joyce had a big three-run home run early to get the Knights started. His older brother, Logan Joyce, came in to pitch after Evan started on the mound and settled things down after a rough second inning.
“We don’t win this game without Logan throwing four quality innings and giving our offense a chance to get something going,” said Henry.
Evan Byers came up with a huge bases loaded single in the fourth that tied the game at the time.
“This was a really gutsy win for us against a scrappy team in tough conditions,” said Henry. “We didn’t play our best defensively but our pitching held us together and we were able to break it open later in the game.”
On Friday at Parry McCluer, Cam Saunders threw three and two-thirds innings of no-hit ball in the win over the Blues. Cam picked up the save a day prior against Bath.
“He’s turned into a game changer on the mound for us,” said Henry of Saunders.
Ben Lawson finished the game with another inning and a third of no-hit ball for a combined no hitter.
Next week the Knights return from break with home games against Waynesboro and Lord Botetourt on March 31 and April 2.
“We face some pretty solid teams in Waynesboro, Lord Botetourt and Floyd coming out of spring break but if we keep throwing strikes and having good at bats I feel great about our chances,” said Henry.
