Stuarts Draft 12, Fort Defiance 5

STUARTS DRAFT – For the second time this week, Stuarts Draft put together a late-inning comeback to win on the diamond over a county rival. And, for the second time this week, Draft freshman Brogan Fitzgerald powered the comeback effort.

Tuesday, Fitzgerald erased a three-run deficit with a tying 3-run homer in the fifth and then put the Cougars ahead with a solo shot in the eighth to finish off the 8-7 victory.

Thursday, Fitzgerald came to the plate in the fifth inning with two runners on and the Cougars trailing 5-3. Once again, the freshman went deep to give Draft a 6-5 lead and the Cougars added six more runs in the sixth inning to put away the Indians 12-5.

Spencer Gates and Colton Parkulo each had two hits for Draft and Fitzgerald finished with four runs batted in.

Gates pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just one hit. He did allow five runs, but four were unearned. He struck out eight and walked three. Lane Henderson retired the final two batters of the game to finish off the one-hitter.

Landon Fridley’s first-inning double was Fort’s only hit.

Wilson 8, Buffalo Gap 7

BUFFALO GAP – Wilson rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take an 8-4 lead and held on to avoid Buffalo Gap’s upset bid 8-7.

After Wilson took a 1-0 lead on Juan-Michael Aguirre’s double in the first, Gap scored two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second to lead 4-1.

Brysen Keyton and Chase Richie produced run-scoring singles in the first to give Gap a 2-1 lead and a single by Wyatt Swisher chased home a run in the second to make it 3-1. Keyton drew a bases-loaded walk for a 4-1 Gap advantage.

Wilson pulled to within one in the fifth as Addy Flesher and Aguirre each had a sacrifice fly to trim Gap’s lead to 4-3. Wilson moved ahead with two runs in the sixth and then added three insurance runs in the seventh to lead 8-4.

In the sixth, a single by Frankie Kovac and a double by Logan Podgorksi put runners on second and third. Cole Kindig drove in both runners with a double, giving the Hornets a 5-4 lead.

Wilson stretched the lead in the seventh. Nolan Deaver led off with a double and scored on a single by Jake McWhorter for a 6-4 Hornets lead. McWhorter scored on a groundout by Kovac and Podgorski followed with an RBI-double to make it 8-4.

Those runs proved to be very important as Gap was far from finished.

Cole Reed walked to start the bottom of the seventh and Dalton Coffey singled with two outs to keep the inning alive. Brent Argenbright’s two-run double to left cut the margin to 8-6. Swisher followed with a double, scoring Argenbright, to make it a one-run game. Isaac Rodgers took over on the mound for the Hornets and recorded the final out on an infield pop-up to preserve the victory.

Podgorski led the Hornets with three hits while Kovac and Kindig each finished with two base hits. Aguirre and Kindig each drove in a pair of runs.

Kindig pitched 4.1 innings in relief to get the win. He allowed four runs on five hits while striking out five and walking two.

Coffey, Argenbright and Swisher each had two hits for Gap. Argenbright, Swisher and Keyton each drove in two runs.

Alleghany 7, Staunton 4

STAUNTON - Alleghany snapped a scoreless tie with four runs in the fourth and the Cougars went on to defeat the Staunton Storm, 7-4.

After the Cougars' outburst in the top of the fourth, Staunton got on the board with a run in the bottom half of the fourth on a sac fly from Addison Brown.

Alleghany stretched its lead to 7-0 with three runs in the seventh. Staunton scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was a case of too little, too late for the Storm. Nathan Neil knocked in two runs for the Storm with a double and Riley Cook plated Neil with a single.

Neil pitched 6.1 innings of solid baseball, but the righthander simply didn't get enough help from his defense. Neil allowed all seven runs on seven hits. Only one of the runs was earned as Alleghany took advantage of five Staunton errors.

Gabe Johnson and Cook each had two hits for the Storm while Neil finished with two RBIs.

Jalen Raether got the win for the Cougars with six strong innings. Raether allowed just one run on three hits.

Bronson Shinault paced the Alleghany hitters with three hits and two runs batted in.

4/30: Thursday's Baseball Roundup