Photos by Jenn King
The Lord Botetourt baseball team will play host to William Byrd this Friday in what is always a big game, and this one is no exception. Coming into the week LB and Franklin County are tied atop the Blue Ridge District standings and Byrd is just a game behind.
The Cavaliers were undefeated in the BRD until they split a home-and-home series with Franklin County last week. On Tuesday of last week in Rocky Mount the host Eagles took a 9-4 win over LB. Caleb O’Quinn and Cody McConnaughey split time on the mound and Franklin hit both pretty hard, scoring eight earned runs on 11 hits. Nolan Medley and Isaac Nichols had two hits each for LB and O’Quinn had a double and two RBIs.
On Friday the same two played in Daleville and LB evened the series in dramatic fashion, winning 4-3. The Cavaliers trailed 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh and scored four times for a walk-off win. McConnaughey drove in the final two runs with a two-out hit to walk-off the visiting Eagles.
Medley started on the mound and went five innings, fanning eight. Ethan Deschambault pitched the last two innings and picked up the win in relief. JJ Tyree and McConnaughey had two hits each for LB.
“That was a big win for us,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “Franklin County has a really good team.”
On Monday of this week the Cavs played host to Brookville in a non-district game against a possible post-season Region 3D opponent. O’Quinn fanned 10 Bees to get the win as Botetourt took a 5-2 victory while Deschambault pitched the last inning to pick up a save. Noah Donaho’s two-run homer was the big hit for the Cavaliers.
With the win Lord Botetourt improved to 10-3 overall. The Cavs took a 5-1 district record to Moneta Tuesday to play Staunton River and they’ll be at Pulaski County for a non-district game Thursday before the big game with Byrd Friday in Daleville.
