Riverheads falls in state baseball semifinals
· Yahoo Sports
SALEM — Patrick Henry jumped on Riverheads immediately, scoring three runs in the first inning and never looking back on the way to a 13-1, five-inning victory in the Virginia High School League Class 1 baseball semifinals June 12 at Salem's Kiwanis Park.
Riverheads (20-5) had won eight of nine games coming into the state semifinals, but struggled to slow down Patrick Henry's (24-2) offense.
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Patrick Henry's three runs in the first all came with two out, one on a wild pitch and the other two on a single by Trajan Cannon.
Brody Phillips led off the second with a single, but Cannon struck out the next three Riverheads batters to stop any rally. Patrick Henry then scored four runs in the second, four more in the third and it was all but over at that point.
"We knew they were a really good team, good hitting team," said Riverheads coach Rodney Painter. "They obviously showed it in the first inning. We got behind early, but I thought our kids still continued to compete out there. Then we dug ourselves a little bit deeper the next couple of innings."
It was 7-0 before Riverheads managed to score a run when Jackson Berkstresser singled and eventually scored on an error. That would be the only run Riverheads would score on the day.
Riverheads was a very young team this year with four freshmen and six sophomores on the roster. They do lose four key seniors — Phillips, Holden Fitzgerald, Chase Donathan and Ethan Mulcahy — but should be in the mix next season in the Shenandoah District.
Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips are always welcome. Connect with Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and on Instagram @hitepatrick. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Riverheads' baseball season comes to an end in state semifinals