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Skyhawks Make A Deal

Posted On: Thursday, April 17, 2008
By: redwan123
Skyhawks Make A Deal

by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond

After not cashing in on two early scoring opportunities L.C. Bird coach Scott Spencer got his team to start playing small ball.

The strategy worked.

Sac bunts, aggressive base running and timely hits powered a three-run fourth inning and a six-run fifth as the Skyhawks defeated host Clover Hill 11-2 on Thursday.

“You do the little things you have to do to win ball games,” Spencer said. “We had to shake it up a little to get it started.”

L.C. Bird also got a phenomenal pitching performance from senior Andrew Deal, who pitched a complete game, struck out nine and only gave up five hits. Both runs scored by the Cavaliers, ranked ninth in the DigitalSports Top 10, were unearned.

The Skyhawks (4-3 Dominion, 7-4) left the bases loaded in the first and second innings and then went down one, two, three in the third against Clover Hill starter Jeff Voreh.

In the fourth L.C. Bird broke through against the Cavaliers (3-3, 6-5).

Third baseman Jesse Hackett led off with a walk, left fielder Marc Gohlke moved him to second base with a sac bunt and then Andrew Belcher hit a line drive double to center field that scored Hackett.

Second baseman Joshua Karr followed with a single to drive in Belcher and later scored on an error to put the Skyhawks ahead 3-0.

“We executed bunts well, put pressure on Clover Hill and it changed the game,” Spencer said.

Hackett got it started again in the fifth when he was hit by a Cody Powell pitch to lead off the inning. Gohlke laid down his second bunt of the afternoon but this time an error allowed him to reach base safely.

Belcher advanced them to second and third base with his own sac bunt and then Joshua Karr ripped a two-run double down the left field line to give him his second and third RBI.

Another error allowed center fielder Jamie Hendrick to reach base and after a batter interference was the second out of the inning Joshua Karr scored when Clover Hill catcher Alex Mait attempted to throw out Hendrick stealing second base.

Singles each by Daniel Harrison, Berkley Hawkins and Steven Rowe would plate three more runs to increase the score to 9-0 after five.

“There is not much you can say,” Clover Hill coach David Zyglocke said. “We just have to get back to the drawing board and get back to fundamentals.”

A nine-run cushion was more than enough for Deal as he would only give up two hits over the final three innings.

“It is a lot of stress off your back,” said Deal of the run support. “You can go out there and throw a lot of strikes. You don’t have to worry about pitching around people. You can throw it and make them put the ball in play.”

The Cavaliers’ Chris Smith scored on an error and Tyler Muench came in on a sac fly in the sixth.

Hackett doubled in the contest’s final two runs in the top of the seventh for an L.C. Bird team looking to surprise some teams in the Dominion.

“We work hard everyday in practice, come out and be the best,” Deal said. “We get underestimated a little bit so we have to come out and prove ourselves everyday.”

L.C. Bird      000 360 2 – 11 9 2
Clover Hill   000 002 0 –  2 5 6
Deal and Hawkins; Voreh, Powell (4) and Mait. W: Deal. L: Voreh.
Records: L.C. Bird 4-3 Dominion, 7-4; Clover Hill 3-3, 6-5

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