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PHCC splits doubleheader
Stephen Kanode delivers to the plate for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise on Sunday at Hooker Field in a game against Patrick Henry Community College. Kanode, a 2008 graduate of Magna Vista High School, retired the side in his only inning on the mound. (Bulletin photo by Johnny Buck)
Monday, March 1, 2010
By JOHNNY BUCK - Bulletin Sports Editor
Patrick Henry Community College’s baseball team split a doubleheader with the University of Virginia’s College at Wise on Sunday at Hooker Field in a climate more befitting an outdoor hockey game than anything else.
Snow lined the warning track and gusting winds made 40-degree temperatures feel even colder as PHCC (6-3 overall) began the day with a 7-4 win before dropping the nightcap 10-3.
The weather wasn’t the only notable variable in Sunday’s baseball game, however. Not only does PHCC rarely play varsity teams from four-year schools in the spring season, it had never faced a team with seven former Piedmont District players on its roster.
“It’s actually a very odd schedule for them and for us,” said PHCC head coach Chris Parker. “We just got a phone call, and they said, ‘Hey, we haven’t been able to get in that many games, many practices. We see you’ve got an opening on Sunday. I’ve got a bunch of kids from down there. Can we come down and play?’”
Cavalier team members with PD pedigrees included Stephen Kanode (Magna Vista), Jonathan Cox (Magna Vista), Caleb Naff (Bassett), Mason Mays (Bassett), Scott Cole (Patrick County), Brett Hylton (Tunstall) and student-assistant coach Matt Duffy (Magna Vista).
In the first game, PHCC jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. Bret Williams’ RBI double scored leadoff man Terrell Thompson to get PHCC on the board in the first inning, and Austin Delmotte doubled in Williams to make it 2-0.
In the second, Thompson tripled to score Andrew Bradley, then scored on a wild pitch.
Thompson, a left-handed freshman from Waynesboro, finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Williams was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, while sophomore Rashad Hatcher went 3-for-4 with a run while batting second in the lineup.
After the Cavs got on the board in the third inning, PHCC added three runs in the fifth inning to finalize the score. The Patriots finished with a 12-6 hitting advantage over U.Va.-Wise.
Patriot freshman Jeremy Fitzgerald got the win. The 6-foot righty from Stuarts Draft threw five innings, striking out nine batters, giving up five hits and one earned run.
Starter Ryan Crosby took the loss for the Cavs after giving up two hits and two runs, both earned, in the first inning. U.Va.-Wise went on to throw five more pitchers over the next six innings, including Cox, who gave up three hits, three runs (two earned) and three walks in one frame of work.
In the second game, the Cavs jumped all over PHCC by hanging five runs on the board in the top of the first inning.
After the Cavs’ leadoff man went down, Cox got things started with a single past the shortstop. He moved to second on a Cody Bentley single and later scored when Dusty Haigler hit a blooper into left. Tunstall’s Hylton then got beaned to load the bases, and the next batter, Brian King, hit a double to the gap in left for two RBI.
They added another run in the second to go up 6-0 and four more in the fourth before the Patriots finally responded with a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Cox finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored, the same stat line as Bentley. Haigler was 2-for-3 with three RBI, and King was 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Cavs (1-4 overall).
Cox, a 2008 grad from MVHS, said he enjoyed returning to area, but he could’ve gotten by without the giant-slalom temperatures.
“It’s rough — hard to swing, hands are numb — but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” he said.
Kanode threw the fourth inning for the Cavs, striking out one while facing the minimum number of batters.
T.J. Brennerman (0-1) took the loss for PHCC. Offensively, Lucas Signor and Alex Miller led the way for the Patriots with 1-for-2 efforts. Both scored one run. Mike Stancik was 1-for-3 for PHCC with a run and an RBI.
Patrick Henry is scheduled to hit the road today for a doubleheader with Methodist College’s jayvee team before returning to Hooker Field to host Spartangburg-Methodist, the nation’s fifth-ranked Division-I junior college team, on Wednesday.
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