Riedesel, Warriors shut down Lions

In what proved to be a classic pitcher’s duel, Western Albemarle snapped a two-game losing streak by outlasting Louisa County at home 3-0 on Friday night.

Warriors senior Sam Riedesel, who notched eight strikeouts, went the distance on the mound while giving up only one hit on the night, a leadoff single to Louisa second baseman Chris Bell to begin the game. The Warriors knocked all three of their runs in during the first two innings off the bat of senior third baseman Wade Hughes.

Lions junior pitcher Gunnar Carroll pitched a solid game as well, yielding only six hits while striking out six, but Louisa never really threatened to cut into Western Albemarle’s lead. The Lions put runners on first and second in the sixth but were unable to capitalize and only managed one baserunner in the seventh.

“What you want your stopper to do is to stop losing streaks,” said Western Albemarle coach Skip Hudgins, referencing the stellar showing of Riedesel. “We had lost two games in a row so this was a huge game for us to get back on track against a very good Louisa team and a very good pitcher.”

Outfielder Peter Hurley led off the bottom of the first with a sharp liner to short, beating out the throw to first. Shortstop Ryan Hughes was then hit by a pitch while first baseman Nick Pegan drew a walk to load the bases for Wade Hughes. Hughes came through, driving in Hurley and twin brother Ryan to score the first two runs of the game. The two-run hit would prove to be enough to clinch the game early on for the Warriors.

“Peter Hurley’s at-bat leading off the game, getting down two strikes and getting a base hit, and then the big base hit that Wade got, that was a huge part of this win,” Hudgins said.

Carroll was then able to settle down and eventually retired three of the next four batters, all on strikeouts.

“[Carroll] just got bad luck, we weren’t playing well behind him and he didn’t make some pitches he normally does,” Louisa coach Kevin Fisher said. “He’s giving us what he’s got. He pitched with a lot of heart.”

Warrior catcher Matt Jensen lead off the bottom of the second with a double to left field. Hurley drew a walk, and then with Ryan Hughes up, Carroll threw a wild pitch and Jensen and Hurley advanced into scoring position. After Pegan got on by way of an error, Wade Hughes was up again with the bases loaded. Though not as effective this time around, Hughes’ beat out a slow dribbler to third base and Jensen crossed the plate for what would be the final run of the game.

“Wade had a great day. The two RBI he had in the first inning were huge, got us off to a good start,” Hudgins said. “We hadn’t been swinging the bats particularly well. That was huge for us.”

The sixth inning proved to be the closest Louisa would get to scoring because of a couple defensive mistakes committed by the Warriors. Lions designated hitter Bryant Holland battled Riedesel for several pitches before knocking a liner to Ryan Hughes at short. Hughes’ throw pulled Pegan’s foot off the bag at first giving Louisa a leadoff runner. Following a Bell strikeout, leftfielder Brandon Perrin grounded to second base and the Warriors were only able to turn the first half of the double play at second, keeping Louisa’s hopes alive for the time being.

Carroll followed at the plate and struck out swinging at a ball in the dirt. He took off for first base with Jensen chasing after him. Just as Jensen was reaching out to tag Carroll, he lost control of the ball and Carroll was called safe at first.

First baseman and cleanup hitter Christian Oliver was up next for the Lions, but couldn’t keep the inning alive for Louisa and grounded out to Ryan Hughes at short to end the inning.

“Sam made some really good pitches and Ryan Hughes made about three phenomenal plays,” Hudgins said. “We’re spoiled, we’re use to seeing Ryan do that, he does it almost every game. Having him at shortstop, if you’re a pitcher, that’s quite a luxury.”

The one-hit performance by Louisa continued a theme for the team.

“That’s been our story of the year,” Fisher said. “We are putting the ball in play but not getting hits. We’re not striking out too much. That’s just the way it is for us right now. We just can’t hit. We’re in a huge slump.”

Fisher was quick to credit the Warriors for playing a solid ball game as well.

“They are a solid ball team,” Fisher said. “They make all the plays they need to make to win games. And I thought [Riedesel] pitched well.”