MONTEREY — The Highland Rams’ baseball team won 11-1 against the Bath County Chargers last Tuesday night in a rivalry game at Ed Crigler Field.
It may not have been the cleanest game they have played, but the Rams did enough to take down their rivals.
“There are some things we have to improve on, but I do feel better that they’ll get better each day,” said Ram coach J.D. Hiner. “We did win in five innings, so that is always good.”
The night was warm and the sun played a role, making it hard to field the ball, especially from second base to third and in the outfield.
In the top half of the first, Bath County had two batters, Wyatt Campbell, and Cam Lowry, get on due to being hit by pitches and each stole second and third. Campbell was thrown out at the plate on a pitcher, third, catcher combo. The Chargers failed to score.
Ram John Wagner was the starting pitcher.
In the bottom half of the inning for the Rams, Zach Armstrong reached first after being hit with a pitch before being thrown out at second. Wagner hit a single and stole second. Colton Williams hit a double, scoring Wagner. He then stole third, but was picked off by Lowry, the Charger pitcher. It was 1-0 Rams after the end of the first inning.
In the top of the second, Wagner hit the first batter, Charger Bransen Gordon. Then Wagner proceeded to strike out the next three batters.
The Rams scored six runs in the second. Ethan Moore started things off with a walk. He then stole second and third before Patton Hull hit a single scoring Moore. Evan Kimble hit a single moving Hull to second, then was thrown out at second on an attempted steal. Elijah Good hit a single, moving Hull to third. Good stole second. Zack Wright hit a single, scoring Hull and moving Good to third. Zach Armstrong was hit by a pitch. Next up was Michael Campbell, who was hit by a pitch and that scored Hull. Wagner was also hit by a pitch bringing in Good. Williams hit a two-run single scoring Wright and Armstrong. Moore hit a pop up to the shortstop to end the inning. The Rams were leading 7-0.
The top of the third saw the Chargers mount a mini-rally scoring a run. Hunter Ryder was hit by a pitch, advancing to first. Cam Lowry hit a single scoring Ryder. Cooper Lowry hit a single, moving his brother to third. Wagner ended the Chargers’ at bat, striking out Gordon. The bottom half of the inning, the Rams managed a single by Kimble. The score at this point was 7-1 Rams.
The Rams brought in a new pitcher, Armstrong, who proceeded to get the Chargers to go down in order 1-2-3.
The Rams scored three more runs and Armstrong got things going with a walk. Campbell hit a double; Wagner earned a walk, loading the bases. Moore hit a double, scoring Armstrong and Campbell. Hull then hit a sacrifice deep fly ball to centerfield, scoring Wagner. The score was now 10-1 Rams.
The Chargers in the top of the fifth went down 1-2-3.
Good, for the Rams, was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball. Armstrong then hit a deep fly ball to centerfield, scoring Good, and ending the game on the 10-run mercy rule with the final score at 11-1.
Wagner had a solid game for the Rams, starting out as the pitcher before moving to third, when Armstrong came in for relief, and made outstanding plays in the fifth inning to help guarantee the win. Wagner earned the win going three innings, striking out four, walking one while giving up one run and two hits.
The Chargers had two hits, one single each from Cooper Lowry and Cam Lowry. They also had one walk. Cam Lowry took the mound loss, giving up six hits and seven earned runs over 2.2 innings. Both Ethan Persinger and Issac Ingram worked in relief, giving up two more hits.
The Chargers (1-3 Pioneer District, 1-4 overall) had a Saturday road game at Richwood, W.Va. and a Monday home game against Pocahontas, W.Va. postponed. They were scheduled to play at Pendleton County on Wednesday and are at Eastern Montgomery today.
Highland, 3-1 in the Pioneer District and 4-4 overall, after last Thursday’s doubleheader, split with Craig County and a Monday loss at Blue Ridge Christian (see separate story), played at home against Covington on Tuesday, is at home against Pocahontas County today and played at Eastern Montgomery on Friday.
Last Tuesday’s Linescore
Bath County 001 00 - 1 2 1
Highland 160 31 - 11 9 0
WP: John Wagner (2-0); LP: Cam Lowry (0-1)