The James River baseball team came out on the short end of a pitching duel in their Region 2C baseball opener last week. River dropped a 2-0 decision to the host Raiders at Appomattox.
The game was scoreless into the home fourth when the Raiders put one run on the board. They scored another in the fifth, and that was all they could muster against River senior Kody Park, who pitched a complete game and allowed just one earned run.
“Kody Park threw the ball fantastically in his final career start, going the whole game on only 71 pitches,” said River coach Chance Henry. “Our defense, specifically our outfield defense, was solid as well. We just came up short with the bats and as a once great coach of mine told me, ‘You can’t win with a goose egg.’”
River’s offense couldn’t mount an attack against Raiders’ pitcher Owen Chavis. Hunter Mays had River’s only hit, a single, and James River batters struck out 12 times and didn’t draw a single walk. Chavis faced just 22 batters and Mays’ single denied him of a perfect game.
“It’s tough to feel good about a loss, it’s even tougher to feel good about a season once it ends, but I do,” said Henry. “This game perfectly exemplified how we were as a team all year, gritty, determined and never backing down.
“Appomattox is an extremely tough opponent. They have a ton of talented kids, some really good coaches and you can tell baseball is important to that area. We put up an incredible fight. Of course I wish we would’ve hit better but sometimes the opposing pitcher just shoves and there’s not much you can do.”
River finished the season with a 7-13 record. They graduate four seniors, Hunter Mays, Logan Joyce, Hunter Weaver and Park. Hunter Mays was named first team All-Three Rivers District at shortstop, his brother Jeremiah was first team all-district in the outfield and Cam Saunders was named to the second team at second base.
“We have four seniors who meant so much to this program,” said Henry. “Four incredible young men that any parents would be lucky to call their sons. They were good players, some of them possibly JR Hall of Famers at some point, but they were even more incredible people.
“This season brought me so much joy as well as helped me grow as a coach. We faced some challenges over the course of the year and our group really came together in the face of adversity instead of falling apart. I truly believe that baseball can be good to great, year to year at James River and this season was a crucial step in that direction of having sustained success.”
