Gallery by Greg Barnett
Some baseball parks just fit a batter’s eye.
Unfortunately for PikeView, inside its friendly confines, those eyes have belonged to visiting Shady Spring this season.
Tuesday the Tiger bats were once again explosive, this time when it mattered most.
Coming of a 22-run, 13-hit performance a month ago in the regular season, Shady tallied 16 hits in a 19-2 win over the Panthers in game two of the regional championship series.
The win sends the Tigers back to the state baseball tournament for the second year in a row which will be played at Go-Mart Park in Charleston next week.
“Honestly I didn’t know what to expect out of (PikeView ace Nathan) Riffe. This was the first time we saw him,” Shady Spring head coach Jordan Meadows said. “I told the guys to be aggressive. If you find your pitch, hit it. We were busting it in the gaps and we were stealing. It was a lot of fun early.”
Shady Spring heeded the advice and started quickly with run scoring hits from Cam Manns, Cash McCall and Brody Seabolt for a 3-0 lead.
PikeView got one back in the bottom of the first when Zach Rose doubled home Drew Damewood, but that was the calm before the storm.
Six hits and three PikeView errors amounted to nine second-inning runs to completely knock the wind out the sails of the Panthers.
“I think these guys came in hungry. We hit the baseball early and we got what we wanted,” Meadows said. “That gave (starting pitcher Colten) Tate a little cushion and we knew all along that Cam was going to close no matter what the score was.”
A pair of leadoff walks put PikeView in a jam to start the second frame. The scoring started on a single from Tate and a sacrifice fly from Manns for 5-1 lead.
Adam Richmond ripped a single to score Tate before back-to-back doubles from Cash McCall and Parker Brown made it a 7-1 advantage.
When Seabolt’s grounder could not be played, another run scored in front of Aiden Calvert who ripped a double to push the lead out to 9-1.
“Brody did exactly what he did yesterday. He started beating it the other way and putting the ball in play,” Meadows said. “Calvert laced one up in the gap. Calvert and Seabolt, this is the first (year) they have started, so that is huge going into our future.”
Coming off a strong performance in game one, Parker Brown, Seabolt and Calvert were once again key contributors combining for four hits and six RBI.
Two PikeView errors and an RBI-single from Jake Meadows tallied three more runs for a commanding 12-1 lead before the home team stepped to the plate for the second time.
“It is a positive sign going into the state tournament no matter who we play,” Meadows said about the hitting outburst. “We are excited. That is the best we have hit in a long time. We have practice all this week, so we will wait to see who we play (in the state tournament) and get ready for it.”
Tate led the Shady hitters with four hits and a pair of RBI, while Richmond collected two hits and drove home three runs.
“Adam is a guy that if he is not hitting the baseball, he changes bat. He has changed bats like 14 times, but this week he found a bat he liked,” Meadows said. “In our inter-squad scrimmage he hit two home runs. Today he hit the ball hard as well. Adam is a great player. He is a good team leader that has been starting for three years. He is a great four hitter for us.”
A bat switch in the sectional championship game got Richmond going.
“I have been switching around from a 34 (inch) to a 33 end-loaded. I finally picked up a one-piece CATX which is a little more balanced. Now I am finding a lot more barrels and hitting the ball harder,” Richmond said. “I caught a barrel with it the first time I picked it up in the championship game against Nicholas County. I ripped a double into the gap and that really boosted my confidence. I have been hitting the ball ever since.”
Shady know waits for the seeding to be announced for the state tournament. Game one is Friday and will be played at either 5 p.m. or 30 minutes after the 5 p.m. game.
“We took out their ace tonight in the second inning and that is all we could ask for. If we can hit it like this going forward, we are going to be hard to beat,” Manns said. “We have to go into that first game at the state tournament confident and we have to play our best. Right now, 1-through-9, we are all hitting the ball. I am proud of the boys.”
