Grand Slam Lifts Cardinals Over Generals

With not much offense to go around, a grand slam in the sixth inning would give the Cardinals of Front Royal all they would need to take down Waynesboro at Integrity Home Mortgage Park at Kate Collins Field.

Both teams had very different approaches on how to use their pitching staff Wednesday night. The Cardinals would get a great outing from their starter Shane Scott. Scott would go seven innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out five. The Generals would use a staff approach. Eight different pitchers for Waynesboro saw time on the mound. The longest of those outings was by the starter Tyler Shuck (Florida Gulf Coast) who threw two innings, allowed one hit, and struck out three.

The offense didn’t get going for either team until the fifth inning. The Generals struck for one in the bottom of the fifth to give themselves the first lead of the game. Brad Burckel (U of Houston) would be hit by a pitch to start things off with one away in the inning. After Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast) worked a walk, Jackson Tate (U of Alabama) would drill a double to left to bring in Burckel for the first tally. Shane Scott would do a nice job of working out of danger to only allow one run.

The Cardinals would respond in a big way in the sixth. After getting the first two men out for Front Royal, third hitter Trey Fields would start the two-out rally. He hit a double to right field. The bases would become loaded after a walk and a hit by pitch. After the first two pitches to Derek Orndorff missed for a ball, the coaching staff would elect for a pitching change. With the new pitcher in the ball game facing a 2-0 count with the bases loaded and two outs, his first pitch of his outing was taken deep for a grand slam. This put the Cards up 4-1 after six innings.

The Cardinals would turn to Sean Miller to get a six out save and he would not disappoint. Over his two innings, he struck out four and didn’t allow a hit. He would pick up his first save of the summer.

Key Performers for Front Royal:

Shane Scott: W (1-1), 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Sean Miller: SV (1), 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Derek Orndorff: 1-4, GS HR (3), 4 RBI

Trey Fields: 2-4, 2B, R

Key Performers for Waynesboro:

Tyler Shuck (Florida Gulf Coast): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K

Jackson Tate (Alabama): 1-4, 2B, RBI

Christian Proffitt (Florida Gulf Coast): 1-3, SB, BB

The loss dropped the Generals to 5-3 and moved the Cardinals to 5-6. The Generals will be back in action Thursday night when they head down to Charlottesville to take on the TomSox on the road.