The Patrick Henry (Glade Spring) Rebels are State Champions.
By Rodney Young
NRVSports.net
Playing on a sunny day in Salem, at Kiwanis Park, the Class 1 championship saw the Patrick Henry (Glade Spring) Rebels defeat the Raiders of Rappahannock, 4-1.
The Raiders scored first in the bottom of the third with Davis Richardson getting a base hit and then moving to second on a throwing error. He would move to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on another Rebel error.
Patrick Henry would finally get on the scoreboard at the top of the fifth. With two outs and no one on base, J J Johnson would single to right. Conner Brown then doubled down the left-field line as Johnson was held at third. Hank Rutherford then would double to left field between left and center fielders, driving both runners in to take their first lead, 2-1.
The Rebels would add two more runs in the sixth as Aidan Monahan would lead off the sixth, hitting a home run that hit the top of the Kiwanis Park sign on top of the scoreboard, making it 3-1. They would then add a fourth run as Carter Brown singled, moved to second on a sac bunt, and Porter Blackwell single moved him to third. He then scored on a Johnson groundout.
Rebels starting pitcher Kolby Hicks was taken out with one out in the bottom of the seventh. He had gone 6.1 innings, giving up six hits, one run, which was unearned. He struck out five and walked only one to get the victory and the state title. Monahan would come in relief to get the last two outs. Johnson for the Rebels, the ninth-place batter got the rally going in the fifth. He scored a run and had a big hit. Monahan, who has committed to Emory & Henry, went three for four, scored a run, and knocked in one on his towering homer. It looked like the ball was still rising as it hit the top of the scoreboard. Rutherford, the head coach’s son, had two RBI. Conner Brown had three hits and scored a run.
Rebels head coach Eric Rutherford said, “This team just keeps battling. There’s no quit. We made a couple of errors early, but mainly we made the routine plays. Johnson (JJ) got us started there in the fifth. Hank (Rutherford) got a huge double, and Monahan’s (Aidan) homer was something. This is a small community, and it means a lot to win the first baseball title. Last year, we were 11-12 with about the same group. We played a bunch of Class 2 teams early, and I think it helped us this season.” He then added, “Kolby (Hicks) pitched a heck of a game, he’s very competitive. “
Rappahannock was limited to six hits. Davis Richardson had two of those. They only had three runners to reach base after their unearned run in the third. Dayne Keyser took the mound loss as he went all seven innings. He allowed four runs, struck out eight batters, and had one intentional walk.
The Rebels finished the season 26-3, and they won their last 19 consecutive games.
The Class 2 game saw the Lebanon Pioneers defeat the Patrick Co. Cougars 5-2 to claim the State title. Lebanon scored in the first with Luke Garrett knocking in Jacob Hilton.
That lead was short-lived with the Cougars scoring two in the first . Zach Holt would double to left field to score Chris Hylton and Jaiden Wilson. Both of them had reached base by being hit by a pitch.
Lebanon would retake the lead in the fourth. Dawson Rasnake would single, scoring Garrett, and Parker Cole scored on a Cougar error. They would stretch their advantage in the fifth with Garret getting an RBI, scoring Brady Cole. Garrett would cross the plate on a couple of Cougar errors to make the score 5-2.
Lake Baldwin tossed five innings for the Pioneers. He gave up two runs, only one was earned. He surrendered six hits and struck out four. Isaac Godsey went the last two innings as he sat down all six batters he faced. Garrett scored twice and knocked in two. Parker Cole had two hits, as did Brady Cole, to join Rasnake.
Patrick Co.’s Zach Holt was three for three at the plate and had two RBI. Erik Tejeda, Hylton, and Wilson had the other Cougar hits. Hylton was the Cougar starter and losing pitcher. He tossed 4.1, gave up five runs, of which three were earned. He walked two and had five strikeouts.
Lebanon head coach Cody Compton remarked, “Patrick Co. is a really good team. We both had some errors, and we seemed to take a little more advantage of theirs. Baldwin (Lake) and Godsey (Isaac) came through on the mound. Luke (Garrett) came up big for us, and it was a team effort. The Pioneers finished their season 21-8. They won their last 15 consecutive games.
Patrick Henry – 4 runs- 11 hits- 2 errors- 8 LOB
Rappahannock- 1 run- 6 hits- 0 errors- 8 LOB
PH – WP- Hicks
Rapp- LP- Keyser
Lebanon – 5 runs- 7 hits- 2 errors- 6 LOB
Patrick Co. – 2 runs – 6 hits- 3 errors- 6 LOB
Lebanon – WP – Baldwin
Patrick Co.- LP- Hylton
