The Lord Botetourt baseball team is 4-1 after road wins over two Blue Ridge District opponents last week. The Cavaliers won a 10-inning marathon at Northside, then beat William Fleming in Roanoke.

The 5-2 win over Northside was a classic. Dakota Duke allowed just one run over the first six innings but LB didn’t score until the top of the sixth. Both runs to that point came on sacrifice flies.

Christian Orange relieved Duke to start the bottom of the seventh and he picked up where Dakota left off, shutting out a solid hitting Viking team for three more innings. However, LB failed to score as well as the game went into the 10th inning with daylight at a premium on the Northside field, which does not have lights.

LB loaded the bases in the top of the 10th and Ty Maust broke the tie with a two-run single. LB scored two more runs on an error on a ball hit by Jordan Brake for a 5-1 lead.

Northside rallied for one run in the bottom of the 10th, but LB held on for the win. Orange picked up the victory, striking out three in four innings after Duke fanned five in six frames.

“It was getting pretty dark in the bottom of the 10th,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “I was afraid to go out to the mound because it would take up too much time.”

LB finished with 11 hits, including three by Ethan Humbert. Hunter Duke, Caleb Franklin and Maust had two each.

On Thursday the Cavs visited Fleming, where they took a 9-4 win over an improved Colonel team. Brake pitched the first five and a third innings for the win and Hunter Duke finished up. Bryce Kelley was three-for-four and Patrick Kepler and Drew Bond had two hits each.

The Cavs were scheduled to host Alleghany on Tuesday of this week. Next Monday Salem will be here for a game that was previously rained out, and that will be the Cavs’ last game until April 19 at James River as they take off for spring break.