Grottoes Sweeps Double Header Against Draft

By Nolan Potts
Grottoes hosted Stuarts Draft for a Sunday doubleheader, and the first game was a wild one.

The first two innings were scoreless for both teams. Grottoes got on the board in the third inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dalton Nicely. After a scoreless top of the fourth for the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals put up seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. A sacrifice fly from Theo Wood, a two-run double by David Wood, a bunt from Sam Tindall that was thrown away and allowed two runs to score, and another sacrifice fly from Dalton Nicely accounted for all of the runs that inning and made the score 8-0.

But the Diamondbacks did not go away quietly. They scored seven runs in the top of the sixth to make it an 8-7 ballgame. A fielder’s choice by Ryan Farris drove in the first run. After a single, Grayson Bush then walked with the bases loaded, and Tommy Weaver was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 8-3. Wyatt Raymond’s RBI single made it 8-4, a Will Decker sacrifice fly made it 8-5, and a two-run double off the bat of Caden Richter made it 8-7.

Clayton Michael would enter on the mound for the Cardinals with two outs in that sixth inning and record the final out after starting the game at shortstop. He would then set Stuarts Draft down in order in the top of the seventh to preserve the win and earn the save.

For the Diamondbacks, Raymond had three hits, while Dell Ray Jones had two hits.

For Grottoes, Tristan Gordan and David Wood each had two hits, while Wood, Nicely, and Tindall each all had two RBI each. Quentin Slusher picked up the win for the Cardinals after going the first 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.

In Game 2, it was much calmer as the Cardinals were able to hold on in the seventh inning and complete the sweep with a 3-2 win.

Adam Dofflemyer went the distance for Grottoes and after giving up an RBI double to Ryan Jones with one out in the seventh, the left-hander bounced back by inducing a groundout and flyout to end the ballgame.

Grottoes ended up with four players with two hits each to account for their eight as a team: Dalton Nicely, Clayton Michael, Logan Phelps, and Jaden Rose. Nicely and Phelps each drove in a run, as well.

For Stuarts Draft, Caden Richter and Charlie Pausic each had two hits, with Richter and Jones driving in the two runs in the game.

Grottoes is now 14-8 and alone in second place in the RCBL standings, while Stuarts Draft drops to 11-11 and currently sit in fifth place in the standings.

Both teams are back in action on Thursday, July 18. Grottoes will host Broadway, and Stuarts Draft will host Elkton.


 

---