Dru Caldwell (4) got the starting nod for the Eagles in game two of their doubleheader. | Martha Ladd
WINNSBORO – The Richard Winn Eagles hosted fellow SCISA region foe Wardlaw Academy in a double-header on Tuesday night, and what ensued was 16 innings of nail-biting, back-and-forth action. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they ran into a hot hitting Wardlaw team and ended up the recipient of two one-run losses. Wardlaw held on late for a 14-13 win in game one, and in game two they came from behind to trump the Eagles 10-9 in nine innings.
Wardlaw jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening inning of game one, but the Eagles snatched a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Patriots answered back with seven runs in the second and dictated the pace until the seventh inning.
Brandon Miller (1) rounds second. He racked up three doubles in the two games.
Richard Winn trailed game one 14-7 headed into the final frame, and it looked like the Patriots were eyeing down an easy win, but the Eagles were not done. Cameron Bass led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, then Zack Taylor and Luke Martin followed him with base hits to load the bases.
Wardlaw struck out the next two batters, but Dru Caldwell pulled through with a two-out base hit that scored Bass from third. Then, Taylor and Martin came around to score on an error. Brandon Miller plated two more runs and put himself in scoring position with a clutch double.
Bass came up next for his second at bat of the inning with a chance to tie the game up, but Wardlaw pitcher Caleb Kemp got Bass to pop out and ended the furious rally.
The Eagles flipped the table on the Patriots in game two, by jumping out to an early lead. Miller was hit by a pitch in the first inning, and a base hit from Taylor brought Miller home.
Caldwell got the start on the mound in game two and shut Wardlaw down early. He retired the side in order in the first and second inning. The early shutdown pitching allowed Richard Winn to put some padding on the lead.
Miller collected his fourth RBI of the double header in the second inning with a double that scored Noah Edwards and John Russell. Bass came up to bat next and beamed an RBI-single to give the Eagles a 4-0 advantage after two.
Caldwell continued to baffle Wardlaw early, and through four innings the Patriots only rounded up one hit. Richard Winn, meanwhile, kept their foot on the gas and pushed the lead to 7-0 in the top of the fifth.
Bass, Taylor and Martin notched three straight singles to begin the fifth. Jimmy McKeown scored Bass with an RBI-single, and Austin Lancaster sac-flied to score Taylor. Martin eventually came in to score on an error during a throw to first base.
Wardlaw kept themselves alive in the bottom of the fifth with a couple of runs, courtesy of a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. The Patriots offense finally opened in the bottom of the sixth inning,and trimmed the RWA lead to 7-6.
Sam Goodwin had a sac-fly for the Patriots, and Chandler Johnson delivered a clutch two-RBI single to cap off Wardlaw’s four-run sixth inning. The Eagles put up a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh off Russell’s RBI-double and grounder from Peyton Gilbert that plated Russell.
Reid Gossett, the Patriot’s leadoff man in the bottom of the seventh, reached first base on an error and Caleb Kemp followed that up with a single, which set the table for the most important hit of the game.
Bailey Goldman stepped up to the plate after Kemp’s single, and, with one swing of the bat, tied the game on a home-run blast to deep left. The Patriots could not follow up with another run, so the game headed into extra innings.
Both offenses were stifled in the eighth, but in the bottom of the ninth, Wardlaw locked up the win after a Richard Winn error allowed Goldman enough to cross the plate.
RWA:5-0-0-0-0-2-6 – 13
WA:1-7-1-3-0-1-1 – 14
PITCHING: RWA – Hudson Wade (L), 3.1IP, 11H, 9R, 7ER, 0K, 1BB. Peyton Gilbert 3.2 IP,5H, 4R, 1ER, 2K, 1BB WA – Bailey Goldman (W), 6H, 7R, 5ER, 1K, 2BB. Caleb Kemp 1IP, 6H, 6R, 4ER.
HITTING: Peyton Gilbert (3), Cameron Bass, Zack Taylor, Luke Martin, Austin Lancaster, Dru Caldwell (RWA); Reid Gossett (2), Caleb Kemp, Bailey Goldman (2), Zac Berry, Chase Miller (2), Hampton Cumbee (3), Morgan Burgess (WA). 2B – Brandon Miller (2), Luke Martin (RWA). Chandler Johnson, Morgan Burgess (WA). 3B – Jimmy McKeown (RWA). Reid Gossett, Morgan Burgess.
RWA:1-3-0-0-3-0-2-0-0 – 9
WA:0-0-0-0-2-4-3-0-1 – 10
PITCHING: – RWA – Dru Caldwell, 5.1IP, 6H, 6R, 3ER, 3BB, 1HB. Luke Martin (L) 3.2IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB. WA – Zac Berry, 5IP, 9H, 7R, 6ER, 1BB, 2HB. Chase Miller (W), 4IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB.
Hitting: 1B- Cameron Bass (4), Zack Taylor (3), Luke Martin, Jimmy McKeown (2), (RWA); Zac Berry (2), Britt Gossett, Caleb Kemp (2), Chandler Johnson, Morgan Burgess (WA). 2B – Luke Martin, John Russell, Brandon Miller (RWA). Britt Gossett, Chandler Johnson (WA). HR – Bailey Goldman (WA).