WINNSBORO – The Richard Winn Eagles polished off the 2022 baseball season with their undefeated record intact (14-0-1). The Eagles recently competed in four games over a week’s stretch.
Head Coach Paul Brigman’s varsity squad played back-to-back-to-back away games, traveling to King (Batesburg), Newberry, and Laurens to clinch the 1A Region Championship title, outscoring these three opponents 35-1. Following a weekend break, the Eagles closed out the regular season at home on Tuesday against non-region PAC.
King
Berry Bonds got the nod to take the hill against the King Knights and only needed to pitch four innings to earn the 14-0 victory. He faced fourteen batters during the shortened game and allowed only one hit, and one walk, and threw eight strikeouts.
As hot as Bonds was from the mound, the Eagle bats were equally hot. Eight of the nine starters tallied 14 total hits, four Eagles hit doubles, and Austin Lancaster and Rob Wilson both went 3-for-3 at the dish. Brian King, Travis Bonds, and B Baker, each safely stole a base while teammate Wilson stole two. King and Miller Stuck were both credited with a sacrifice fly. Lancaster, Wilson, and Landon Caulder were hit by pitches.
Newberry
The Eagles traveled west along Highway 34 for the second day in a row, this time to face the region rival Newberry Eagles on Thursday.
Bonds got the Eagle bats ignited with a single on his first at bat to score teammates Lawson Wade (single) and Caulder (BB) which gave RWA the early 2-0 lead. Before the inning was over, Baker doubled to score Bonds, and Chaisson singled to score Baker. RWA held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the second.
Newberry was shut out in the bottom half of the second and remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning. RWA was able to plate two more runs in the fourth and led 6-1 going into the bottom of six. Neither team could produce any more runs to give RWA the full game seven inning victory.
Six RWA batters combined to get nine hits. Chaisson, Lawson Wade, and Wilson all had multiple hits. Caulder was hit by a pitch, and Baker got a stolen base.
Stuck got the starting call to pitch against Newberry and worked through six innings, throwing 68 strikes out of 99 total pitches. Stuck gave up seven hits, but only one run, and he struck out eight to get the win. Wilson came in as the closing pitcher in the seventh and pitched to three batters, throwing nine of twelve pitches for strikes and earning two strikeouts.
Laurens
With Highway 34 very familiar by now, the third and final road trip on Friday took the Eagles from 34 up I-26 northbound towards 385 to Laurens. The travel time may have been equal to or greater than the shortened three-inning 15-0 game.
Caulder pitched to a dozen Crusader batters, throwing 33 of 51 pitches as strikes in the shutout game. He allowed only one hit and struck out six.
While Caulder was busy keeping the Laurens batters frustrated, the Eagle batters weren’t able to be very productive at the plate in the beginning either. However, once the bats and confidence showed up in the top of the third, the RWA offense exploded to score 13 runs. Six players recorded multiple hits with Stuck, Chaisson, and Wade also getting extra base hits. Caulder and King were hit by pitches, and King, Stuck, and Charlie Bonds were credited with stolen bases.
PAC
In their final regular season home appearance, the Eagles pulled out all the stops in a closer, full seven inning finale against PAC to hang onto their undefeated record. RWA crossed the plate to get on the scoreboard first in the opening inning to lead 3-0. They added three more runs in the third to go up 6-0, but PAC answered back to manufacture a run in top of the fourth. Each team produced another run before the game ended, but the PAC team couldn’t make up the 5-run deficit.
The two PAC pitchers allowed only seven hits and held the Eagles to seven runs.
Outfielders Baker and King were the only two Eagles to put multiple hits into play. Wilson had the team’s only extra base hit, Lancaster was hit by a pitch, Baker was credited with a sacrifice fly, and King and Wilson(2) had stolen bases.
Not only was Wilson productive offensively, he was also throwing the heat, striking out 10 of the 28 batters he faced in 7.1 innings. He threw a total of 101 pitches for 60 strikes. Caulder came in to relieve him and fanned the last two batters. Wilson got the win, and Caulder collected the save.
Prior to game time, the four senior players, Austin Lancaster, B Baker, Brian King, and Berry Bonds, and their parents were honored. RWA celebrated senior night with a good crowd, nice weather, and another great win.
As the 1A region champs, the Eagles earned a top seed and will host the first round of state playoffs next week. Date, time, and opponent TBA.
RW – 3-0-4-7-x-x-x – 14, 14, 1
KA – 0-0-0-0-x-x-x – 0, 1, 4
WP: Bonds. LP: Gross
Hitters: R– Baker 1-2, 2B; Chaisson 2-4, 2B, RBI(3); Lancaster 3-3, 2B(2), RBI; Wilson 3-3, RBI; King l-3, RBI(2); Caulder 1-3, RBI; Steward 2-3, RBI; Stuck 1-2, 2B, RBI(3)
RW – 0-4-0-2-0-0-0 – 6 , 9, 3
NA-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 – 1, 7, 1
WP: Stuck. LP: Alford
Hitters: R– Baker 1-3, 2B, RBI; Chaisson 2-4, RBI(3); Wilson 2-4; King 1-4; Wade 2-3, 2B; Bonds 1-3, RBI(2)
RW – 1-1-13-x-x-x-x – 15, 14, 2
LA – 0-0-0-x-x-x-x – 0, 1, 3
WP: Caulder. LP: Burke
Hitters: R – Baker 2-3, RBI; Chaisson 2-2, 2B; Wilson 2-3, RBI(3); King 1-2; Caulder 1-2, RBI(3); Wade 2-3, 3B, RBI(2); Stuck 2-3, 2B, RBI(3); B Bonds 2-3, RBI(2)
PAC – 0-0-0-1-0-0-1 – 2, 6, 2
RW – 3-0-3-0-1-0-X – 7, 7, 1
WP: Wilson. LP: Cochran
Hitters: R– Baker 2-2, RBI; Wilson 1-4, 2B; King 2-4, RBI; Caulder 1-2, RBI; Wade 1-3; Bonds RBI
