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Three RCBL games got underway at 7:30 on Wednesday evening. None of them ended up being completed.

Thunderstorms that had been passing through the Shenandoah Valley all day caused all three games to be suspended after starting play.

The Elkton Blue Sox were at home facing the Bridgewater Reds in their home opener. Rain started to fall in the bottom of the first as the Blue Sox had runners on the corners.

Bridgewater scored twice in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead before the rain really started coming down, causing the game to go into a delay.

Just moments later, players from both teams started leaving the dugouts, signaling that the game was suspended and would be made up at a later date.

RCBL Media Director Matthew Atkins was at the game providing updates via Twitter.

By Dwyer Neal

CLOVER HILL – It was a back-and-forth fight between the Clover Hill Bucks and the Bridgewater Reds Tuesday night at Buck Bowman Park. Clover Hill finally pulled away in the bottom of the eighth inning, bringing in eight runs to secure an 11-3 victory.

The Reds got on the board early as Kevin Bocock stole home in the top of the first to give them a 1-0 lead.

The Bucks answered in the bottom of the second, bringing in their first run from Alex Knicely, which led into three innings with no runs. The Bucks ended that scoreless streak by bringing in two runs from Johnny Wood and John Siciliano in the sixth, making the score 3-1.

The Reds answered back in the eighth, bringing in two runs from Tyler Mahone and Derek Shifflett, tying the game at 3-3.

The Bucks managed to bring in eight runs in the bottom of the eighth, getting five hits off Billy Arens. Several times Arens had to pitch with bases loaded and three hit batters allowed the Bucks to score multiple times in the inning.

 “They helped us out in a few places, they are rough around the edges as we are also so sometimes those things won’t work out as they will later in the season,” Cofer said about the Bucks’ pitchers. “They definitely had the momentum there so it was really good to punch back and take control of the game.”

The Bucks ran past the Reds, racking up 11 hits in Tuesday’s contest. Nine Clover Hill players came around to score in the game, including Johnny Wood and John Siciliano, who each scored twice.
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Eric Yankey’s pitching kept Bridgewater’s offense to a minimum as he allowed just two hits in 1.1 innings, earning the win.

“Trying to get our pitchers to work out some type of rhythm for starting pitching and how many innings we are going to throw, and establishing roles,” Cofer said about the goals of his team going forward. “We are real deep in the pitching staff and in the bullpen. I’m kind of interested to see how that’ll come about and same thing with the lineup.”

The Bucks are off until June 1, when they’ll host the New Market Shockers at 7:30 p.m. 

By Matthew Atkins

While all other games were postponed Sunday night, the rain held off in New Market where the Shockers were facing the Bruins for the second time in the young 2018 season. Behind a dominant performance by Seth Comer, the Shockers picked up a 5-2 victory over the Bruins, their first of the year.
 
“First wins are always good,” Shockers head coach Chris Rush said. “The first game against Broadway, we were up 4-1 and kind of gave it away. Even Bridgewater last night, we weren’t completely out of that game, but it feels good to have our first win.”

Comer, a junior at Shenandoah University, took the mound for New Market on a wet night and was lights out against the Bruins lineup. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the third inning and only gave up three hits through six innings of work. The only run scored against Comer was unearned and he struck out five batters in Sunday’s game.
 
“Our pitchers did real well tonight,” Coach Rush said. “Comer threw a great six innings.”
 
But pitching wasn’t the only highlight of the night for New Market. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, but once the runs started coming in, they didn’t stop.
 
Josh Tayman led off the fourth inning with a double and was later driven in on a single by Ty Michaud.
 
Nick Goode led off the home half of the fifth inning with another double and later found his way home thanks to a fielder’s choice.
 
Broadway scored two runs of their own, but a run in the seventh and two in the eighth from New Market put the game away.
 
The Shockers racked up a season-high 11 hits against the Bruins and three players had multi-hit games.
 
Nick Goode went 3-for-5 on the night with two runs scored and an RBI. Ty Bennett also had three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Joseph Rutherford was 2-for-4 on the night with a run scored.
 
Three other Shockers got hits in Sunday’s game and four players crossed the plate in the victory.
 
Comer earned his first win of the season while Tyler Ritenour picked up the save. Coach Rush thought that Ritenour was unlike any other pitcher Broadway would see.
 
“The last kid we pitched, Ritenour, completely different look, probably something they haven’t seen all year with his little bit of sidearm,” Coach Rush said. “With him having that, we thought that might take them off balance, and it did.”
Ritenour retired the first four batters he faced after coming in to the game. He pitched three innings, giving up just three hits and one unearned run on his way to saving the game.
 
With their first victory under their belts, the Shockers end a three-game homestand to open the season. With the three rainouts on Sunday, the Shockers are the only team to play more than two games so far this season, and one of only two teams who have played more than one.
 
“The first part of the season, three games in a row, you’re using a lot of pitchers early in the season,” Coach Rush said. “Glad it’s over, glad we got a win out of it. We’ll look forward to Friday.”

The Shockers are off until Friday, June 1 when they take on the Clover Hill Bucks at Buck Bowman Park in a rematch of the 2017 semifinals. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

By Dwyer Neal

NEW MARKET – In the Bridgewater Reds’ first game of the season, they brought home a     10-6 victory over the New Market Shockers on Saturday night at Rebel Park.

The Shockers started the game strong by bringing in two runs from Trenton Burgreen and Nick Goode, but fell behind shortly after.

The Reds answered back to the Shockers over the next three innings and put eight runs on the board. Brian Bocock was one of five Reds that brought to come across the plate, scoring four times during Saturday’s game. Tyler Bocock and Josh Wright each scored two runs on the night.

“Always good to take the lead. Those guys will battle, I mean we started out slow but that’s fine they never gave up,” Reds manager Robert Sherfey said. “That’s one thing about these guys, they give you a full nine innings of baseball.”

The Shockers answered back in the fifth and seventh innings where they brought in a total of four runs, but it was not enough to overcome the Reds’ lead.

After taking home a big win on Saturday night the Reds face off with the Clover Hill Bucks on Sunday.

Sherfey proclaimed for the game tomorrow “we are going in with one mind set… to win.”

Up Next- The Reds head over to Clover Hill to face the Bucks on Sunday, May 26 at 7:30 P.M. at Buck Bowman Park.
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The Shockers stay at home to face the Broadway Bruins for the second time in three days. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

By Matthew Atkins
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STUARTS DRAFT - Stuarts Draft manager Les Sandridge spoke before the season about the importance of mentality in the game of baseball. After the Diamondbacks 10-5 win over Elkton on Saturday, it’s clear that his team’s mentality is in the right place.

“Just the grit and the teamwork,” Sandridge replied when asked what impressed him about the victory. “Everybody’s up on each other, you know, hey come on we can do it. Just the cohesiveness of the team.”

The Diamondbacks had to fight their way to a win after going down early to the Blue Sox. Elkton clean-up hitter Cameron Stanley hit a two-run home run in the top of the first to put the Blue Sox in the lead. Trent Miller followed suit an inning later with a solo home run of his own to make it 3-0 in favor of Elkton.

The Diamondbacks were hitless until the bottom of the third inning, when Terrell Thompson hit an RBI single that scored Taz Miller. Draft added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, but the Blue Sox weren’t about to go away easily.

The game was back-and-forth over the next two innings. Every time the Blue Sox scored a run to tie it, the Diamondbacks added another run to take the lead back.

Finally, with the game tied at five runs apiece in the bottom of the eighth inning, Stuarts Draft started to break away.

The first five hitters reached base and came around to score, giving the Diamondbacks the biggest lead of the night.

With runners on second and third and no outs, Ryan Cooper hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Terrell Thompson and sealed the deal for Stuarts Draft.

The Blue Sox got two runners on in the top of the ninth, but Cooper made a spectacular double play to end the game, catching a line drive and tagging first base before JJ Loker could make it back in time.

Coach Sandridge said he was impressed with the speed his runners had on the bases, which was evident when Thompson made it from first to third on a single by Cooper in the seventh inning.
Despite the comeback effort from his team, Coach Sandridge did see some things he knows the Diamondbacks will have to improve on in the future.

“We’ve got to hit better,” Sandridge said. “We pulled off what we needed to. We did a good job of getting on base and that kind of deal.”

The Diamondbacks racked up seven hits on the night, two coming from Colt Miller, who finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Taz Miller had a good night offensively as well, going 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
On the mound, the pitcher who shined the most for Draft spent the least time on the field. Cody Bartley came in to pitch in the top of the fourth and struck out the next six batters he faced before being taken out of the game.

“We were on a schedule,” Coach Sandridge said of the decision to take Bartley out. “It would’ve been nice to have left him in there, but everybody’s got to work.”

After securing a win in the first game of the season, Coach Sandridge feels confident in his team.
“I think we did all right,” he said. “I think everything will be all right.”

The Diamondbacks continue their season with a matchup at Grottoes tonight, while Elkton hosts Montezuma at Stonewall Memorial Park.  

By Nick Stevens
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CLOVER HILL- A late surge in the ninth inning by the Grottoes Cardinals fell just short as former James Madison University pitcher Eric Yankey shut the door on a 4-1 Clover Hill victory on Opening Night at Buck Bowman Park.
                                                       
Clover Hill RHP Kevin Chandler took the mound as the Opening Night starter, pitching three shutout innings and striking out four. After recording three ground ball outs in the first inning, Chandler opened the second inning by allowing back-to-back singles. The RCBL veteran responded by striking out the next three Cardinals’ hitters.
 
“He hit some locations in big counts for us. For his first outing he produced really well for us,” said Clover Hill Head Coach Chris Cofer after the game. He’s fully recovered from Tommy John, and is sure to be an integral piece to another run at an RCBL title.
 
Chandler worked with an early lead thanks to a Luke Shifflett RBI-double and a Danny Grogg RBI-fielder's’ choice in the top of the first. The Bucks would not surrender the lead for the rest of the night.
 
In the fourth inning, Josh Eberly reached on an error, and would later score on a wild pitch to put the Bucks up 3-1. The final run of the night came in the bottom of the eighth on a Drew Easter RBI-single, scoring Tanner Kirk.
 
Clover Hill drew eight walks on the night, showing a level of patience at the plate that you normally don’t see early in the season. The top three hitters in the order (Ross French, Drew Easter, Cody Swisher) drew a combined five.
 
Tyler Conley, Jordan Showalter, Jesse Showalter, and Eric Yankey combined for six innings of relief, surrendering four hits and one run while striking out eight.
 
Moving forward, coach Cofer said he wants his guys to just play fundamental baseball. There didn’t appear to be a lot of Opening Night jitters on the field, a sign that his team is following that mantra closely.
 
For Grottoes, Dustin Garst pitched three shutout innings in relief of Tyler Lam without allowing  a single hit. His ability to command the lower half of the zone and mix his pitches produced a lot of weak contact and ground ball outs.  Zach Thomas and David Wood paced the offense with two-hits a piece. The lone Grottoes run was scored by Thomas on a Keeston Raynes single.

By Nick Stevens
 
NEW MARKET- The 2018 Rockingham County Baseball League season began in dramatic fashion on Friday night at Rebel Park. The visiting Broadway Bruins defeated the New Market Rebels behind the powerful arm and smooth bat of Luray, VA native, Logan Morrison.
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Opening Night started with something you don’t see at every baseball game. Shocker’s starting pitcher John Bentley completed his warm-ups and climbed the hill to kick off the season, however, Broadway leadoff hitter Dan Fry was still making his way to the dugout after arriving to Rebel Park just moments earlier.
 
The slight delay didn’t seem to upset the timing of Bentley, who worked six innings, struck out six Bruins’ hitters and gave up four hits, one earned run, and one walk.
 
Neil Dutton and Pat Wingfield drove in the first two runs of the game for the Shockers as they took a 4-1 lead into the seventh inning. It was here where the Bruins took control of the game.
 
The Bruins would storm back, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at four, including a two-run single by Gavin Kandrick.
 
Nate Jay lead off the bottom of the seventh with a walk for New Market, followed by a Zach Stiles hit-by-pitch and a walk by Neil Dutton to load the bases with no outs. Enter Bruins’ pitcher, Logan Morrison.
 
Morrison struck out three straight Shockers with an overpowering fastball and big breaking pitches to swing the momentum in favor of the Bruins. Morrison ended the evening with three shutout innings, striking out five hitters in total.
 
“Logan was big for us last year. He got us out of a lot of james, he’s a good ball player and a grinder. He’s a bulldog on the mound. Logan comes in and pounds the zone and that’s how he’s going to be all year” proclaimed Bruins’ Head Coach Justin Getz after the game.
 
With two outs in the ninth, Malachi Simmons drove a double, deep into the left-field corner, off Shockers’ pitcher Kirk Messick. Morrison followed it up with the would-be game winning single, scoring Simmons from second.
 
Overall, Coach Getz was pleased with that he saw from his young team, saying it was a  “good boost for them to start the year off with a win.”

This was the first of three straight games to open the season for the Bruins, but Getz isn’t concerned with how his team will respond. “These guys are coming off long seasons, so they’re in shape. It’s baseball. They love playing it.”
 
Broadway will look to make it two in a row with a trip to Montezuma on Saturday night. 

By Dwyer Neal
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NEW MARKET -  The Rockingham County Baseball League will host its 2018 season opener on Friday, May 25, 2018. The two teams competing in the Opening Night contest will be the New Market Shockers and the Broadway Bruins. Both teams finished last season with a record of 11-17.

Broadway manager Justin Getz spoke recently about the excitement surrounding his team leading to Opening Night. 

"It's going to be an even stronger roster and an even stronger set-up that we have," Getz said at the RCBL Media Day on May 19. "I'm looking forward to it, the guys are looking forward to it. It's all pure excitement right now." 

New Market manager Chris Rush has similar feelings about his team this year. 

"I like the replacements we have coming in and I like the core we have back from last year," Coach Rush said. "I think we'll do big things again this year."

Friday night's game will resume a series that ended in Broadway's favor last season.

The Bruins and Shockers contested four times last season with Broadway winning three out of the four games.

On July 5 Broadway bested New Market with a close 9-8 win. On July 12 the teams met again at New Market, but the Shockers couldn’t bring home a win, losing 16 - 11.

Broadway hosted New Market on July 19, but playing on the road was no problem for New Market as they swept past the Bruins, winning 6 - 4. In the last contest of the season on July 22, the Bruins answered back to the tough loss they took the previous week with a 6-4 win over the Shockers.

Both of these teams had a fair number of players that entered the 2017 RCBL All-Star game. New Market had three pitchers for the East Division as Nolan Potts, Kirk Messick, and Dakota Orndorff made appearances in the game.

Chase Smallwood was one of three catchers selected for the All-Star game. As well as being on the All-Star team Smallwood was chosen to be a starter for the game and represented the East in the Home Run Derby.

The final New Market player that was chosen was infielder Zach Stiles.

Broadway had three players make an appearance on the West Division All-Star Team. Gavin Kandrick made the team at catcher, earning the starting spot for the West.

Logan Morrison also made an appearance in the All-Star game. One of eight pitchers selected, Morrison was chosen to be the starting pitcher. The final player from Broadway, Boo Dean was selected to represent the West in the Home Run Derby.

The Bruins and Shockers will square off again this Friday, May 25 at Rebel Park in New Market. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.