Gladiators Outlast Falcons in 8-inning nailbiter

GREENVILLE - Survive-and-advance. That's the crucial theme of postseason tournaments.

Riverheads played it to perfection Monday, using a double-error with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to score the winning run, giving the Gladiators a 3-2 victory over the Central Woodstock Falcons in the quarterfinal round of the Region 2B baseball tournament.

The fourth-seeded Gladiators, despite getting only three hits, lived to travel Wednesday to top-seeded Buckingham County for a semifinal clash where a Class 2 state berth is at stake. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Knights moved on Monday by blanking eighth-seeded Luray 7-0.

Riverheads (15-5), playing for the first time since May 22, had only two hits through five innings, but enjoyed a 2-0 lead before the fifth-seeded Falcons finally broke through in the sixth on a two-out, two-run hit that deadlocked the game.

Central starter Isaac Barb stymied the Gladiators after giving up single runs in the first and second. He left after seven innings and 104 pitches.

Nathan Snyder came on in the eighth and quickly recorded two outs, but the dreaded two-out walk to Carson Kuhn set up the disastrous ending for the Falcons.

Levi Dunlap hit a slicing fly ball toward the right field foul line. The Central outfielder mishandled the ball for the first error. Kuhn never stopped running, and the throw from the right fielder was wild and up the third-base line for the second error as Kuhn scored the winning tally. If the throw had been anywhere near home, Kuhn would have easily been tagged out.

“I had to send him,” Riverheads head coach Rodney Painter said. “We weren't hitting the ball or scoring any runs, so I wanted to force the defense into making a play.”

Riverheads' victory was only part of a bigger, feel-good story for the Gladiators. Junior Brody Phillips made his season diamond debut when he relieved Levi Dunlap in the fifth.

Phillips suffered a torn ACL during the football season on Oct. 25 at Stuarts Draft. He had surgery Dec. 6, and only six months later he is on the athletic field again.

“It is awesome and amazing to be playing with these guys again,” he said. “I had plenty of butterflies when I took the mound, but also it was a good feeling.”

Phillips worked a 1-2-3 fifth on 17 pitches, including two strikeouts, but ran into trouble in the sixth when Central scored its two runs. Noah Moss lined a shot off the top of Kuhn's glove at third and Blake Kniceley walked. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up with one out, and Luke Bushong looped an opposite-field single to right that scored both runners.

“The sixth didn't go like I wanted, but in the end we got the win and that's all that matters,” Phillips said.

Painter had high praise for his junior, considering he was back after six months, which is almost unheard with ACL injuries.

“Brody did a great job, considering it was his first game and a playoff game on top of that,” he said.

Henley Dunlap gave the Gladiators quick 1-0 lead in the first when he roped a two-out, solo home run to left into the teeth of a stiff breeze blowing in.

Riverheads tallied a run in the second without the benefit of a base knock. Barb hit Levi Dunlap with a pitch to open the inning. A wild pitch, fielder's choice and a second wild pitch had Dunlap touching home plate.

Levi Dunlap wiggled out of major issues in the first and second innings when the Falcons had the bases loaded, but couldn't score.

“We were fortunate to get out of there with no runs,” Painter said. “Levi really battled on the mound and made the big pitches when he needed.”

Painter loved the fortitude his team showed in the late innings.

“I am most proud of how the guys didn't quit when Central tied the game,” he said. “Central had all the momentum at that point, but we didn't give in.”

Kuhn worked the final two innings to record the victory. He retired six of the seven batters he faced, recording a pair of strikeouts in the seventh.

Henley Dunlap, Chase Donathan and Kendal Edwards had the three hits for Riverheads. Dunlap's homer was the only extra-base hit for either team.

Half of Central's six singles came in the second when it loaded the bases with two outs.