Game Recap from Kingsmen Baseball
By Jerob Moon- Sports Information
ROCK HILL- The Piedmont Pride (20-7) and the SBA Bones (23-7) faced off in a pair of games Wednesday night at Rock Hill High School. Game One was a makeup of a rained-out game from July 5th; the Pride won 7-5. In Game Two, the Bones bounced back and beat the Pride 11-5.
Game One started in the bottom of the fourth inning, with the score in favor of the Bones 4-2. The game was picked up right where it stopped due to rain on July 5th. The Pride didn’t waste any time getting the lead back with a five-run fifth inning. After an RBI double by Josh Baker, Jake Wright provided the big hit with a three-run homerun in the fifth. The Bones would add a run in the fifth as well, but the Pride shut the door and won 7-5.
Zach Shank pitched a great game in relief and was the key factor for the Game One win. Shank started the game in the bottom of the fourth and cruised the last 3 2/3 innings, giving up only three hits and striking out seven. Tommy Guglielmello, who originally was the starter in this game on July 5th, was given a no decision.
Coach Hudak recognized the strong performance of his team, “I think the key to me, was Zach Shank threw very well in relief. He kept the score where it was, and he gave up only one earned run. He gave us a chance to get back in the game, and we got that five run inning. They gave us a couple of runners and we hit some hard balls, and Jake got a huge hit. That was a big win for us; we still have a chance to finish first.
Game Two saw the Bones come back and beat the Pride 11-5. The Bones jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after four innings. The Pride struggled against starter Isaac Rogers, who gave up only one hit in four innings. Even though the Pride were down early, the team tried to rally in the sixth and seventh. A two-run triple by Cody Littlejohn fueled a three run sixth, and Brian Moore hit a two-run homerun in the seventh.
“The five-run fourth really hurt us because they were already leading 2-0 at that point. We traditionally score runs late, and we did that today,” Coach Hudak commented. “We never quit and we never gave up; we had some good at bats. We just got in too big of a hole early, so when you face a good club like that and get down 11-0, it’s pretty hard to come back.”
The Pride will look to bounce back in their final game before the all-star festivities begin on Friday. The Pride will hit the road to take on the Concord Athletics (10-23) on Thursday – first pitch is at 7pm.
