Photo by Brian Hoffman
Two hot teams met on the baseball diamond to open the Class 3 state tournament last week and Brookville proved to be a little hotter than the host Cavaliers. The Bees took a 6-2 win in Daleville to advance to this week’s state Final Four in Salem.
“We never could get the big hits when we needed them, and they did,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “They have a good pitcher and he threw really well.”
Lefty Brennan Abbott pitched into the sixth inning before Jed Howard relieved and the two combined to hold Botetourt to just four hits. The Cavaliers came into the game red hot, and in fact had four home runs in their previous game, a win over Abingdon. That not only earned the Cavs’ their first state appearance, but a home game as well.
Brookville never trailed. It was 1-1 after one inning, as Meade Mayo singled in a run in the bottom of the first for LB. The Bees regained the lead in the top of the fourth, but Carson Peggins countered with a home run in the bottom of the inning to tie it up again at 2-2. The Bees then scored single runs in the fifth and sixth and two insurance runs in the seventh as the LB bats remained silent. Brothers Kyle and Jared Arnholt had the other two hits for the Cavaliers.
Brae Farrell took the loss. He started and went five innings before Jared Arnholt pitched the last two frames.
Botetourt graduated six seniors, including catcher Dylan Fralin, second baseman Jake Dewease, first baseman Meade Mayo, outfielder and pitcher Jared Arholt, infielder and pitcher Ramsey Vassar and infielder and pitcher Nick Lancaster. The Cavs will return their one and two starting pitchers, Farrell and Matt Oliver.
“We return some good players and we have some guys who have had success on the jayvee level,” said Smith.
The Cavaliers finished the season with a 15-9 record and were Region 3D champions. They beat the number three, two and top seeds in the regional tournament, in order, to win that trophy.
“We had a good run,” said Smith. “We were playing hot at the end, but we ran into another team that was just as hot as we were.”
