Colley Field – Sophomore outfielder Paul Bateera hits a two-run home run to provide senior Seth Cutler-Voltz sufficient run support and give Henrico (7-3; 14-4) a 2-0 Capital District victory over Atlee (5-5; 9-8). Cutler-Voltz pitched a one-hitter and recorded nine strikeouts.
Atlee pitcher Taylor Sandefur also had a great night. He gave up two hits while striking out six. The game took just 88 minutes to play.
“Seth and Taylor are great friends and have great respect for one another,” said Henrico head coach Ken Schrad. “Taylor came to Seth’s ceremony at Henrico last November when he signed his letter-of-intent to play at VCU. It was fun to watch them perform and compete,” he added.
Cutler-Voltz faced just 17 batters in five innings. The only blemishes were a walk to Hank Garthright in the third and, in the fourth, Chase Worthington was hit by an inside fast ball on a 1-2 count. Worthington is about as close to the plate as a hitter can be.
Henrico threatened in the first inning. Eric Thornton reached on a throwing error and when the ball skipped up the first base side fence line, he never stopped until he reached third base. A strike out and a ground out followed.
Catcher Michael Mansfield started off the second inning with a single. Todd Sparrow came on to run for Mansfield. Andrew Props flied out. Paul Bateera came to the rescue.
With Sparrow on the move, Bateera hit a 0-1 fast ball over the fence in right center field. Little did any one know at the time it would be the game winning hit.
Henrico reached second base two more times, in the third and fifth innings. But, Sandefur quickly shut down any hope for some insurance runs.
The lone hit off Cutler-Voltz was by Ryan Kontra in the sixth inning. He hit a 0-2 curve ball that had just enough on it to get through the infield and into left field. He was snuffed out when Ryan Farrar hit into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play (Adam Toombs to Landon Prentiss to Alvin Hence).
Facing the heart of the Atlee batting order in the seventh, Cutler-Voltz needed just eight pitches to get Worthington to pop out to right field, Sandefur to strike out, and Austin Young to fly out to left field where Tyler Moses squeezed the victory into his glove.
“We still aren’t producing much at the plate,” said Schrad. “But, our defense is back to form and that certainly gives our pitchers confidence knowing that their teammates are making playing behind them.”
Ten “Warriors” were honored prior to the game on Senior Night: tri-captains Cutler-Voltz, Toombs, and Thornton along with Hence, Sparrow, Moses, Patrick Hughes, Taylor Smith, Brandon Gunnell, and Will Parkerson.