The Cave Spring lineup had plenty of punch Wednesday afternoon as the Knights visited River Ridge rival Patrick Henry at John Edwards Field.
Taking advantage of three hits from Logan Altizer and two each from Grant Wilson, Nelson Stanley, Jake Furrow and Wyatt Hage, Cave Spring rode strong pitching from left-hander starter Joey Bryant to pick up the hard fought 5-2 win.
Patrick Henry kept itself in the game thanks to a strong outing from starter Ryan Mceachern and infield play that doused a pair of Knight rallies by turning double plays with the bases loaded, and throwing out another Cave Spring runner at the plate
PH got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh before Cave Spring reliever Daniel Cook got the final out with a strikeout to pick up the save.
Cave Spring looked poised to put a big number on the board in the top of the first after Stanley’s single, Altizer being hit being hit by a pitch and Grant Wilson’s single had the bases juiced. But, the Knights could only score one after a 6-4-3 double play.
The Patriots responded in their half of the first after a walk to Robert DeMattia was followed by singles from Carter Mason and Mceachern to knot things at 1.
Cave Spring added two runs in the third on a double by Caleb Wentzel, single from Altizer, double by Wilson and single by Furrow that put the Knights up 3-1.
The Knights added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh before the final PH rally came up short.
Mason was the sole multi-hit Patriot with two.
Bill Turner
