Generals Fall to River Bandits

The Generals had their six game win streak snapped on the road in Woodstock. The River Bandits out-hit the Gens 13-9 and out scored them 8-3.

The River Bandits jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Sunday night. In the bottom of the first, Aidan Nagle, the team’s leading hitter, started things off with a single. He moved to second on a walk to Lael Lockhart, and two batters later, Nick Holesa drove in Nagle with a single up the middle.

Woodstock scored two more in the bottom of the third before the Generals could answer back. This time, the River Bandits used a couple of two-out extra base hits to bring in their runs. Lael Lockhart doubled to left center. Caleb Ward followed that up with a two-run home run to centerfield. Woodstock now had their lead at 3-0.

The Generals finally got to Woodstock’s starter in the fifth inning for their first run. It was one of the newest Generals that was almost solely responsible for getting the run on the board. Gunner Peterson (Illinois State) singled to lead off the inning. He later stole second, moved to third on a grounder to the right side, and scored on an errant throw by the catcher that was trying to pick off Peterson on a throw behind him at third base. The score was 3-1 going to the bottom of the fifth.

Woodstock saw the Gens trying to make a comeback and responded with two more runs. Aidan Nagle doubled to get things started. Two batters later, he stole third and Caleb Ward would drive him in from there. The battery for the Generals started to struggle a bit. Ward moved to third on two wild pitches and would end up scoring on a passed ball. The River Bandits had a 5-1 lead now.

The Generals again tried a comeback in the seventh. Brad Burckel (U of Houston) tripled to get the inning started. He scored on the very next play on an error by the Woodstock third baseman. The Gens couldn’t get any more runs in from there, so the score was 5-2 headed to the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, the River Bandits finally broke things open with three more runs. Four straight singles by Escala, Nagle, Lockhart, and Ward put a run on the board and had the bases loaded with nobody out in the inning. A ground ball to the first baseman with the infield drawn in looked as if it would stop the bleeding for the Generals. However, the Waynesboro first baseman decided to try and step on first before throwing home and that allowed another run to score. Finally, Warnner Rincones hit yet another single to drive in the final run of the inning. The score after seven complete was 8-2 in favor of the River Bandits.

The Generals would make one last attempt for a big comeback in the top of the ninth. The past week would lead people to believe that Waynesboro is never out of a game, no matter how late, no matter what the score. They would load the bases with nobody out in the ninth to stir up those thoughts yet again. Two batters were hit by a pitch and in the middle of those two, a Wes Clarke (South Carolina) single happened. However, when Woodstock made a pitching change, they went to their all-star reliever, Seth Comer. Comer induced a pop fly to left that allowed a run to score but then got a double play ball to get the River Bandits out of any further trouble. The final score was 8-3.

 

Key Performers for Woodstock:

Caleb Ward: 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Nick Holesa: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Lael Lockhart: 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R

Ryan Mitschele: W (1-0), 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Seth Comer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GIDP to end the game

Key Performers for Waynesboro:

Wes Clarke (South Carolina): 3-4

Connor Norby (East Carolina): 2-4

Gunner Peterson (Illinois State): 2-4, R, SB

Brad Burckel (U of Houston): 1-2, 3B, R

Daniel Casto (Memphis): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

 

The Generals (15-8) are back in action on Monday night in a makeup contest with the Harrisonburg Turks. First pitch at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field set for 7 pm.

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