Gens Take Advantage of 17 Free Passes to Route Cardinals

In a game that the Front Royal pitching staff gave up 12 walks and 5 hit batsmen, the Generals put up 19 runs to win the season series over the Front Royal Cardinals.

Front Royal got on the scoreboard first with a run in the very first frame. After the first batter of the game was retired, the Cards put two on with a walk and an error. Dylan Menhennett brought one of the runners in with a two out double to put Front Royal on top 1-0.

The Gens would respond with three runs in the bottom of the second and wouldn’t surrender the lead the rest of the night. The rally started with a one out walk to Gunner Peterson (Illinois State).  After Peterson stole second, Brad Burckel (Houston) doubled into the left centerfield gap to bring in Peterson to tie the game at one. The very next pitch, Connor Norby (East Carolina) unloaded on his first homer of the summer to put the Gens out in front by two.

Luke Short (St. Mary’s) pitched out of his long relief role and flourished once again. He held the Cards at bay over his four innings of work. He allowed just one hit and one unearned run in his time on the mound. He scattered four strikeouts in as many innings. This helped Luke pick up his second win of the season to move his personal record to two wins and no losses.

The bottom of the third is when the game finally broke open for Waynesboro. The first five batters of the inning were either walked or hit by a pitch. Eli Quiceno (Gannon U) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run, and Gunner Peterson followed with a walk to bring in another run. Jackson Tate (Alabama) hit into a fielder’s choice to pick up the third run of the inning. Brad Burckel would be responsible for the last three runs brought in with his triple to right center for two more RBI and later scoring on a wild pitch. After three innings, the Gens led 9-1.

A third consecutive inning saw the Generals scoring runs. In the fourth, Waynesboro was able to tack on two more runs. Jack Murphy (St. Mary’s) continued his hot hitting with a single to right. Wes Clarke (South Carolina) followed with a double to send Jack to third. Eli Quiceno came up with an infield single to bring in Murphy, but the throw to first was as wild as it was late. This allowed Clarke to score from second. The score after four innings was 11-1 in favor of Waynesboro.

The Cards would take advantage of an error with two outs in the fifth to score another run. After the error, Matt Cooper drove in a run with a double. This brought the score to 11-2 after five complete innings. However, the Gens would score eight runs over their final three frames to make things a bit ugly.

In the sixth, the Cards would load the bases with walks and hit by pitches. Jackson Greene (Florida State) ripped a single to right to drive in two runs and put runners at the corners. Bryson Worrell (East Carolina) drove in a run next with a fly ball to centerfield that the center fielder dropped. After a walk to Ethan Cady (East Tennessee State) loaded the bases, an RBI walk was dished out to Santiago Garcia (Alabama State) to make the score 15-2.

In the seventh, the Gens added three more. Jackson Tate led things off with his team-leading fourth home run. Brad Burckel followed the homer with his third hit of the night. After the two hits, the Cards went back to dishing out free bases. Norby was hit by a pitch, Greene was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Worrell brought in a run with a bases loaded walk. A double play ball brought in another run but the inning ended directly after with a strikeout.

The Cards tried to make things close in the top of the eighth with five runs in the frame, but the score was still 18-7. The Generals added another run in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to its final place of 19-7. The run in the eighth was courtesy of Jackson Tate once again. He tripled down the line in right. The throw from the cutoff man was a high one that got out of play. That allowed Tate to come home for the score.

Key Performers for Front Royal:

Trey Fields: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Tre Dabney: 1-4, 3B, R

Dylan Menhennett: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Jose Hernandez: 2-3, R

Key Performers for Waynesboro:

Brad Burckel (Houston): 3-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 4 R

Jackson Tate (Alabama): 2-5, HR (4), 3B, 2 RBI, 4 R

Connor Norby (East Carolina): 1-3, HR (1), 2 RBI, 3 R

Luke Short (St. Mary’s): W (2-0), 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

 

The Generals (17-8) are back in action on July 4th when they play the first of three straight games with the second place Charlottesville Tom Sox. First pitch at C-Ville Weekly Ballpark is set for 5 pm.

 

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!