Montgomery burns Wilson
Rosanne Weber/Staff
Wilson Memorial’s D.J. Curry dives back to third after rounding the bag Tuesday as Riverheads’ Miles Wade tires to put on the tag during the Gladiators’ win in Fishersville.
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By Doug Layman
Published: April 16, 2008
FISHERSVILLE — Wilson Memorial gave the Gladiators’ Cody Montgomery just enough breathing room.
In a Shenandoah District game that featured more Wilson errors (seven) than hits (four), the Green Hornets coughed up four unearned runs and handed Riverheads the 5-3 win.
Montgomery had good control of his curve and tattooed the corners to pick up nine strikeouts. The four hits he gave up were all singles and only one run was earned.
“Cody gave us all we could ask for with our pitching,” Riverheads coach Rodney Painter said. “He was able to pitch out of some tough situations tonight.”
On the other side of the hill, Wilson’s D.J. Curry also gave up one earned run in seven innings, but the errors doomed the junior to the loss.
“D.J. pitched well enough to win,” Green Hornet coach Derek McDaniel said. “It’s a shame that our defense had to let him down tonight. You’ve got to feel bad for him. He’s given up one earned run in his last 13 innings and he’s just 1-1 over that stretch.”
Both hurlers cruised through the first two innings and it was the Gladiators (3-6, 1-1 Shenandoah) who drew first blood in the third.
Miles Wade led off the frame with a single to a diving second baseman Weston Cash. A one-out single to center by Brent Wolcott brought Wade all the way from first and Wolcott circled the bases thanks to two Wilson errors.
The Green Hornets (5-4, 0-1 Shenandoah) answered in the bottom half of the frame with an unearned run on a two-out single by Cash.
Riverheads tacked on two more in the fourth.
Wade reached with a one-out fielder’s choice, moved to second on a passed ball and tagged the plate on a run-scoring single by Trevor Bellamy. Bellamy streaked to third on a single by Wolcott and scored on an error to push Riverheads to the 4-1 lead.
“The kids put the ball in play,” Painter said. “That puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Those Wilson errors helped out a lot.”
Wilson made things interesting with a two-run fifth. Tucker Kirby coaxed a walk from Montgomery — one of three from the Gladiator pitcher on the night — and Alex Fisher drilled a solid single to second. Both runners moved up on a throwing error.
Junior Alex Sauer then looped a single to left that drove in Kirby and Fisher scored on a grounder by Cash. But Montgomery got the next two batters to end the threat.
The Gladiators added an insurance run in the seventh on a two-out RBI-single by Adam Ritter.
“Adam came up big for us,” Painter said. “That was a key two-out hit.”
Painter realized that the game was theirs for the taking.
“We were fortunate to capitalize on some of [the Wilson] mistakes,” he said. “Our kids hung in there and we were able to make the plays that we needed to. But it sure was an ugly game.”
And McDaniel was philosophical after the loss.
“It’s inexperience,” he said. “The kids have to learn to play through a mistake and put it behind them. Not carry it over to the next play or the next inning.”
Wilson doesn’t have much time to regroup as they travel to Waynesboro for a 6 p.m. non-district game today. Riverheads will host Stonewall Jackson on Thursday.
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