By Craig Brown
The fans were treated to some exciting baseball Thursday in Lake View with the Hannah-Pamplico Raiders in town for a rematch with the Wild Gators with the winner going to the State Championship. The Gators downed the Raiders on the May 4th 8-5 so the Raiders would have to get back to back wins to get to the big game as a result of the earlier loss.
In game one Deonte Roberts took the mound for the Wild Gators with Mason Hicks pitching for the Raiders. The Gators are well stocked with good pitching but Hicks is the top ace for the Raiders. Roberts struck out the top of the Raider batting order to put the Gators to the plate. The Gators picked up one run in the first from a base on an error, a sacrifice bunt, a fielder’s choice and a base hit to close the inning with a 1-0 Lake View lead. In the top of the second the Raiders had three base hits with one run scored to even the game at 1-1. The Wild Gators left one runner on base in the bottom of the second to close the scoring at 1-1. Roberts took the Raiders three up and out in the top of the third. A triple by De’Ante Bridget followed by a base hit by Nick Collins put the Gators back on top 2-1. The Gators added another hit before the inning was over but no additional runs. McKinley Turner tied the game with a homerun in left field over the 312 foot mark. The Raiders added two more runners to base but the Gators got out of the inning with Roberts fielding a line drive and throwing to Bridget at third to get the runner at third for the double play. In the bottom of the fourth, Stone Spivey was brought home from third base on a base hit by Darious Ford to give the Gators a 3-2 lead after four. Roberts and the Wild Gator fielders took the Raiders three up and out in the top of the fifth. The Gators got two runners to base in the fifth but a double play at third and home kept the Wild Gators off the board to end the fifth with a 3-2 Lake View lead. The Raiders added two runs from a walked batter and two hits to go up 4-3 in the top of the sixth. The Raiders took the Gators three up and out in the sixth to hold the 4-3 lead. The raiders added one run in the seventh from two hits a sacrifice and a fielder’s choice to increase their lead to 5-3. Three straight fly balls to the outfield ended the Gators hopes in the seventh giving the Raiders a hard earned 5-3 win and sending the match to a second game. On the mound for the Gators, Bridget posted eight strikeouts, one walked batter and one batter to base on a hit by a pitch, allowed seven hits with five runs scored in six innings for the loss. Roberts was relieved by Duane Nichols in the seventh. In seven innings for the Raiders, Hicks posted two strikeouts, one walked batter and one batter to base on a hit by pitch, allowed seven hits and three runs for the win. At bat for the Raiders, Carson Gibbs was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base, McKenzie Turner was 2 for 4 with a homerun, Garrett Book was 2 for 3 with a RBI a stolen base and a fielder’s choice, Mason Hicks was 1 for 3 with a RBI a stolen base also getting a base on a walk, Jacob Daves was 1 for 3, Easton Tanner and Gray Wright had a fielder’s choice and Carson Mays advanced a runner on a sacrifice bunt. At bat for the Wild Gators, Justin Elliott was 2 for 2 with a RBI advancing a runner on a sacrifice bunt, De’Ante Bridget was 1 for 3 with a triple also getting to base on an error, Nick Collins was 1 for 3 with a RBI advancing a runner on a sacrifice bunt, Darious Ford was 1 for 3 with a RBI, Stone Spivey was 1 for 3, Hunter Stevens was 1 for 3, Brent Herlong was 1 for 4 with a base hit and a fielder’s choive, Webb Cardwell had a fielder’s choice and got to base on a walk.
In game after a 30 minute break two tired teams retook the field. The Raiders would be the home team in this match. Nick Collins would take the mound for the Gators and go the full seven innings. The Raiders would open with Nick Owens with John Murtha and Shamar Thomas relieving. Brent Herlong got the lone hit for the Gators in the first a double to left center. The Raiders got runners to base on a walk and a hit by pitch but could not bring a runner home to end the first 0-0. Two hits a walk a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly produced one run for the gators in the top of the second to go up 1-0. The Raiders could get no runners in leaving two runners on base to close the inning with lake View up 1-0. The Wild Gators went three up and out in the third with the Raiders also going three up and out. Lake View had a big at bat fourth inning producing 5 runs from two base hits a double, two walked batters, one batter hit by a pitch and a fielder’s choice to go up 6-0. The Raiders could not get any offense in the fourth leaving one runner on base. The Wild Gators closed their fifth inning at bat with one run to increase their lead to 7-0. The Lake View fielders took the Raiders three up and out to close the fith leading 7-0. The Gators got one hit in the top of the sixth with one batter to base on a walk but could not get a runner home. The Raiders woes at bat continued going three up and out returning the Gators back to the plate in the top of the seventh. The Wild Gators continued to add to the Raiders miseries adding two more runs to take a 9-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. For some reason the Raiders did not know they were whipped and for a brief period had some Gator fans worried as they batted 11 players and produced six runs in their final at bat to give the game a very exciting finish with Lake View getting the 9-6 win. On the mound for the Raiders, Owens posted two strikeouts, three walked batters allowed six hits with six runs scored in four innings for the loss. For the Wild Gators Collins posted 5 strikeouts, 2 walked batters one batter to base on a hit by pitch allowed 9 hits and 6 runs scored for the win. At bat for the Raiders, Easton Tanner was 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI, Carson Gibbs was 2 for 4 with a RBI, McKinley Tanner was 1 for 3 with a RBI also getting to base on a hit by pitch, Bryan Meggs was 1 for 3 also getting to base on an error, Jacob Daves was 1 for 3, Gray Watson was 1 for 4 also getting to base on an error, Garrett Book was 1 for 4 and Carson Mays got to base on 2 walks. At bat for the Wild Gators, Webb Cardell was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI a stolen base and getting to base on a walk, Stone Spivey was 2 for 3 with a RBI adding another RBI on a sacrifice fly, Duane Nichols was 1 for 1 with 2 sacrifice bunts and a walk to base, Hunter Stevens was 1 for 1 getting to base twice on hit by pitch and one walk to base, Darious Ford was 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI adding another RBI on a sacrifice fly, Brent Herlong was 1 for 4 with a double and a RBI on a fielder’s choice hit, Justin Elliott was 1 for 4, Nick Collins got to base on2 walks an d De’ante Bridget got to base on a walk.
