GREENVILLE – Riverheads won the Region 1B baseball championship with a 4-1 victory over Luray and in the process earned the right to host a quarterfinal game in the Class 1 state tournament next week.

Riverheads grabbed the early lead with two runs in the first inning. Brody Phillips was hit by a pitch and Ethan Mulcahy reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Luray starter Eli Wood struck out the next two batters before Kendal Edwards delivered a clutch two-out, opposite-field single to right for a 2-0 Riverheads lead.

Luray scored a run in the third inning on a throwing error, but that’s all the Bulldogs could muster against Riverheads freshman Cason Croft.

Croft pitched five-plus innings, allowing just the one unearned run on three hits. The Riverheads freshman ran into trouble in the sixth and turned the pitching duties over to Asher Falls.

Croft walked the first two batters in the sixth inning. Falls came in and recorded the first out on a sacrifice bunt that moved the potential tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Falls record the final two outs of the inning on a strikeout and a batter’s interference call to end the threat and preserve the 2-1 lead.

The Gladiators added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Phillips led off with a single, moved to second on Mulcahy’s sac bunt and score on Chase Donathan’s double, making the score 3-1. Donathan took third on a passed ball and scored on Holden Fitzgerald’s squeeze bunt for a 4-1 lead.

Riverheads will host Region 1A runner-up Lancaster in the state quarterfinals. Lancaster lost in the 1A title game on Thursday to Rappahannock-Warsaw 6-3. Lancaster in now 19-6 this season.

Gladiators Hold Off Luray for 1B Baseball Title