James River played host to Lord Botetourt in the only intra-county baseball game of the season last week and the visiting Cavaliers got the win. LB took an 8-2 win in Springwood.
“We kind of beat ourselves with walks and errors in this one,” said River coach Chance Henry, who played for LB as a high school student. “We actually hit the ball similar to LB and they made a couple plays that took away hits for us, but you can’t walk 12 guys in a game and get away with it.”
River used five pitchers in the game, beginning with Logan Joyce, who went an inning and two-thirds. He was followed by Maddox Woodyard, Hunter Mays and Maddox Moore and all four walked three batters each before Colt Cook got the last out. Woodyard ended up taking the loss without allowing an earned run.
Chase Peck pitched a complete game for LB, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out nine. At the plate LB’s Noah Donaho continued his hot start to the season with two hits in four at-bats, scoring three times. Garrett Lonker had three runs batted in and Gavin Walker knocked in a pair. Hunter Mays had two hits for River.
“This one didn’t go our way but we hung in there for a while with a high quality opponent,” said Henry. “It felt great to play our intra-county rival and I hope this is something we can try to do once a year. I know my guys were super excited for it and are looking forward to it again next year, hopefully.”
Both teams played again on Friday and lost. LB was at Salem where the Spartans took a 12-2 win on Billy Sample Field. Kobe Hairston started on the mound for Botetourt and took the loss, allowing four earned runs while striking out three. Ethan Taylor pitched the last inning and a third in the five-inning game. LB had just two hits, one each by Lonker and Brady Kish.
“Very disappointing to have had four total errors on the season going into this game, and we made six errors tonight,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “It’s tough to beat anybody with that many errors, but we will work hard this week and be ready to go on Friday at Staunton River.”
LB is at Staunton River Friday, at Heritage next Monday and home to William Byrd on Tuesday, April 15. The Cavaliers are 4-3.
River fell to 3-2 with a 9-6 loss to Floyd County in Springwood last Friday. The Buffaloes stampeded for seven first inning runs to put the Knights in a big hole before a Riverman even came to bat.
“This started off as one of the most frustrating games I’ve had as a coach,” said Henry. “We came out extremely flat and Floyd took it to us in the first inning. I was proud of how we fought back and made it a game but baseball is a hard game and when you start like we did those first three innings while giving up an immediate seven spot, it’s hard to come back from.”
LB Photos by Brian Hoffman | JR photos by Leigh Downey
The Knights scored five in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 7-5, then plated another in the sixth to creep back to within a run. However, Floyd put two insurance runs on the board in the top of the seventh and that was the ball game.
“We showed some fight and grit, putting up five in the fourth and another in the sixth,” said Henry. “Kody Park did a great job keeping them at seven until the seventh inning. He did everything I could’ve asked for and more. I was proud of his effort on the mound.”
Park pitched six and a third innings in relief of Cam Saunders and allowed two runs while striking out six. River finished with four hits, one each by Jeremiah Mays, Hunter Mays, Evan Byers and Maddox Moore. Jeremiah scored twice and Hunter knocked in two for the Knights.
River was scheduled to play at Alleghany on Tuesday in a Three Rivers District game. They travel to Carroll County on Friday.
