The Lord Botetourt baseball team swept the intra-county series with James River when the Cavs won in Springwood last week. LB took an 8-2 win after winning the first meeting in Daleville in March.

This was a close game through six innings. James River led 2-1 after three innings and trailed just 5-2 into the seventh before LB put a crooked three on the board in the top of the seventh.

Hunter Duke picked up the win for LB on the mound in relief of Christian Orange, who pitched the first inning and two-thirds. Duke went five and a third, striking out six and allowing no walks. Coulter Hodges took the loss for River despite allowing just three hits and two earned runs.

Patrick Kepler led LB with two hits and Ethan Humbert had three runs batted in. For River, Luke Harman and Landen Horton had three hits each.

LB was back in action on Friday and a big fourth inning lifted the Cavaliers to a 14-4 slaughter-rule win over Rockbridge. The Cavaliers scored 11 runs on 12 hits in the fourth.

There was no indication this was coming. Down 4-1, Botetourt had just one hit in the first three innings before the Cavs exploded in the fourth. Caleb Franklin, Ty Maust, Jordan Brake and Bryce Kelley all had two hits in the inning and Brake was four-for-four for the game.

“We had to keep our foot on the gas,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “They (Rockbridge) were down 8-0 to Northside and came back and made it 8-7.”

Patrick Kepler pitched the first four innings to get the win with Dakota Duke finishing up. The win lifted LB to 6-3 on the season. LB will host Northside Friday.

River played host to Floyd County on Friday and the Knights bounced back with a 3-1 win behind a solid pitching performance by Horton. Landen pitched a complete game two-hitter, striking out 10 and walking two. He completed the game on 98 pitches.

The Knights had to scrap for their runs. They scored one in the second on a fielders’ choice, a passed ball and a sacrifice by Dyllon McAllister. It was 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when River scored two on a couple walks, an infield error and a passed ball.