We had write-ups about all of the other area games and the computer went out and killed all of the copy and I won’t be able to re-create just the way I had it but I wanted to make sure we got all of the other kids some credit for the work they turned in yesterday.
Not the full blown details but here’s part of what we were putting out there. First loss of the season for Ragsdale yesterday as the Tigers fell to Hopewell 14-10 in eight innings. Cody Meyers, Ben Fultz, and Billy Stone had two hits each for Ragsdale(4-1). Southeast Guilford(3-0) becomes the top team locally after their 15-3 win over Eastern Randolph. Austin Moyer went 3-4 for the Falcons and struck out 11 Wildcat batters. Justin Venable was 3-4 with a couple of stolen bases, Pat Nesbit goes 2-3 and Jeff Medley gets a key hit in the sixth inning to turn the game in favor of the Falcons.
The Grimsley Whirlies made the long road trip to Sanford to take on the Southern Lee Cavaliers and GHS pulls it out in the eighth inning and wins over SL 3-1. Sophomore DJ Russ, whose dad James Russ has done some coaching over around Grimsley and Kiser, was the winning pitcher for Grimsley(2-1) going three innings and not giving up a run to help secure the victory. Freshman George Carter, got the start for the Whirlies and kept them in the game striking out 9 SL batters through five. Gabe Dimock and Shaq Jacobs had key run-scoring hits in the eighth to push the Whirlies ahead to stay. Andrew Faircloth tied the game at 1-1 in the 7th with a huge RBI double. Whirlies win it 3-1 over Southern Lee.
The Ledford Panthers proved they are going to be a very tough team to be reckoned with as they topped a very good SWG Cowboy club 4-1. Ledford is now (5-0) with the win and we didn’t see many of our regular C’boy contributers but Brock Hodgins, Will Kellam, Nick Amador, and Christian McLean(Nick Shields) all had one hit each for SWG, and I think McLean is the kid that just finished 2nd in the state in the 3-A wrestling tournament held at WS Parkland a few weeks back or he may have won it all in the 3-A’s. SWG is now (1-2) after yesterday’s loss.
Southern Guilford mashed East Davidson 13-8 on Thursday and now the SG Storm moves to (2-3) on the year. Robert(can we call him Bob or Bobby?) Knight and Aaron Oliphant combined to go 7-9 for SG and Colby Marshall had 3RBI’s for the Storm.
*****More on the Ragsdale game, CF DeSean Anderson had to leave the game in the 2nd inning after hitting the wall in center and suffering a concussion. Ryan Andreco took the loss for the Tigers he’s (1-1) and the game was tied at 9-9 at the end of 7 innings. Tons of walks and the umpire having a stamp-sized strike zone helped make this one a 4-hour game. Hopewell 14-10 over Ragsdale in 8 inns.*****
Ledford is very good. Livengood (Ledford’s #1 pitcher) pitched and he was tough. He located the ball well and threw several pitches for strikes. The first inning the top of the Cowboy lineup hit him hard and so after that, they saw no more fastballs. Ledford was also impressive with their situational hitting. They are definitely a top contender this year.
Payne Craven, who had TJ surgery last year came in in relief for the Cowboys. This was his first game appearance and he looked really good. He came in with a runner on third with no outs and he got out of it without giving up the run. Underwood made some really nice defensive plays on short also. The Cowboys have had a tough time with the bats, but credit goes to the pitchers they have faced….they have located the ball well and kept the Cowboys off balance.
Christian McLean won the State in wrestling, but he actually didn’t get the hit. Nick Shields came in place of McLean and he was the one with the hit that was credited to McLean.
Hopefully facing top contenders and pitchers early in the season will serve the Cowboys well as the season advances.