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Raiders fall in extra innings |
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Written by Greg Bird
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Friday, 17 April 2009 |
The long ball giveth and the long ball taketh away.
The long ball giveth and the long ball taketh away.
That was the story of the Raiders’ 6-4 extra inning loss Thursday night to the South Laurel Cardinals.
Aaron Watts blasted a hanging curveball over the left-field fence in the first inning to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead, but the Cardinals’ Ricky Bowling hit a three-run homer of his own in the top of the fifth to put South Laurel ahead 4-3.
The Raiders loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, but the opportunity was wasted as they only managed to push in one run and send the game into extra innings.
South Laurel scored two runs in the top of the eighth and blanked McCreary in the bottom of the frame to seal the win.
The Cardinals scored first after a lead-off walk and sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead off Raider starter Jacob Dixon, but McCreary stormed back in the bottom of the inning.
Darrell King led off with a single and advanced to third on a Colby Lawson double to center. Watts cleared the bases by taking Ryan Woody’s curveball over the fence in left.
Dixon settled in, holding Laurel scoreless over the next three innings, limiting the Cardinals to just two hits over the first four, but started to run out of gas in the fifth.
South Laurel started off the inning by getting the first two batters on base with a single and a fielder’s choice. Dixon struck out the next batter, but Ricky Bowling gave the Cardinals the lead with a three-run homer.
Dixon allowed two more singles before being relieved by Darrell King who got the final out of the inning.
The Raiders failed to get anything going in their half of the fifth or sixth, but threatened to take back the game in the seventh.
Dustin Losey and King drew back-to-back walks and a Lawson single loaded the bases with no outs. Watts hit a sharp single to right, scoring Losey to tie the game, but King was thrown out at the plate trying to score the winning run. McCreary loaded the bases for a second time after Rusty Neal reached after being hit by a pitch, but a strikeout ended the threat and sent the game into extra innings.
South Laurel put their first two runners on thanks to a walk and an error and both scored on a Matthew Gilbert double to left. Travis Smith relieved King and got the Raiders out of the jamb without any further damage.
The Raiders went down swinging as South Laurel’s Matthew Martin struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth to end the game and gave the Cardinals the 6-4 win.
Watts finished the game 3-4 with 4 runs batted in and one scored. Colby Lawson finished 2-4 with a run scored.
Darrell King took the loss for the Raiders with South Laurel’s Matthew Martin picking up the win.
Rain played havoc with the Raiders schedule this past week, forcing cancellations of four games, including a district match-up with Monticello on Tuesday.
The Raiders hope to shake off the rust when they (hopefully) return to action Thursday afternoon with a home game against Southwestern (4-5) at 5:30 p.m. Another home game follows on Friday when the Raiders host Corbin (7-4). Saturday the Raiders will be on the road to play against Oliver Springs and Clinton in Tennessee before returning home on Monday to host Lincoln County.
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