The Lord Botetourt baseball team will meet Staunton River tonight at 7 p.m. in the Blue Ridge District tournament semifinal round. William Byrd High is hosting the tournament.
Byrd, the top seed, will meet Northside in the first game tonight. The two winners will play for the BRD championship on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Walthall Park in Vinton. While the tournament means little more than bragging rights and a trophy, the Cavaliers are going to Vinton to do their best to win it.
“We’re in it to win it,” said Botetourt coach Todd Smith. “We’re going to be all business this week.”
Botetourt will be the sixth seed in the eight-team regional next week. That will begin on May 23 and the Cavaliers will be at third seeded Tunstall to open the regional, which is a win-or-go-home tournament. Abingdon is the top seed.
The Cavaliers come into the week at 12-7 overall after finishing the regular season with two wins last week. On Tuesday they came from 6-2 behind to stun William Byrd in Vinton, 9-6. The Cavaliers won it with just one hit for the game, a bases loaded double in the seventh by Kyle Arnholt.
Byrd pitchers walked 15 batters in this game. Jared Arnholt picked up the win for LB and he’s now 4-0, all out of the bullpen.
On Thursday at home the Cavaliers had no trouble with a weak William Fleming team, winning 10-3. Nick Lancaster got the win and Kyle Arnholt was four-for-four at the plate, including two home runs and four runs batted in. Connor Fuhrman and Colston Powers had two hits each.