Blues stay perfect in baseball

By DAVE COX\Staff
ABINGDON- The old saying goes “good pitching beats good hitting”. Richlands got both in a surprisingly easy 10-1 rout of Southwest District opponent Abingdon last Friday at Falcon Field in Abingdon.
Richlands hurler Jordan Barnett (3-0) breezed through the Abingdon rotation, giving up just two hits. He struck out eight batters and didn’t walk anyone. Abingdon (1-4, 1-1 SWD) didn’t help its cause much with five fielding errors. Richlands (5-0, 3-0 SWD) had just one fielding miscue.
Barnett also came up big at the plate with two doubles. He batted in three Tornado runs. Bradley Strong added a 2-for-3 performance for the Blues and scored four runs.
Richlands opened play last Saturday in the 35th annual Allen Coppinger Jr. Tournament at Bowen Field in Bluefield against Grayson County, a team the Blues edged 2-1 in their season opener at Wardell.

WARDELL- Hits were at a premium on Tuesday, April 8 when Richlands and Carroll County met for a Southwest District baseball game at the Southwest Virginia Community College field, but strong pitching came through for the Blues in a 5-3 victory over the Cavaliers.
Rocked for a pair of runs in the opening frame, winning pitcher Taylor Sizemore (1-0) tighten up his offerings and shut the visitors out for the next 3 1/3 innings before giving way to Ethain Keene who kept a tight grip on CCHS for another 1 1/3 innings. Jordan Barnett served as closer for the Blues and pitched the final frame.
Sizemore fashioned a two-hitter while on the mound and Keene and Barnett issued one safety apiece as the three hurlers combined for a four-hitter. Sizemore gave up the two early runs and then went on to strike out five batters while walking three. Keene did not allow a run. He fanned four and did not walk anyone. Barnett struck out a pair of batters and didn’t issue a walk, but gave up a run, which came courtesy of one of two RHS errors in the contest.
“That was our plan the whole way,” said Tornado coach Brad Strong. “Let Taylor go as long as he could. Taylor did a god job and Ethain comes in and does the same thing to give us an opportunity as a team to do a little bit better on offense.”
Hits didn’t come easily for Richlands (4-0, 2-0 SWD). The Blues faced three different Cavaliers pitchers and collected just five safeties on the day. Starter Drew Webb stayed on the mound for four innings and yielded three runs on four hits. He struck out three batters, walked four and suffered the pitching loss. Brett Anno relieved Webb and gave up two runs and the other RHS hit in one inning of work.
Sizemore walked the second batter he faced and Mike Kelly doubled before Cody Robinson knocked in both runners with a sharp single to left. Robinson was picked off trying to steal a base to end the inning.
The Tornado got one run back in a hurry and would have tied the game had a runner not been caught stealing third base for the first Blues’ out of the frame. Bradley Strong walked ahead of Christian Hearl, who also drew a base on balls. Strong attempted to steal third, but was thrown out. Joel Elswick doubled home Hearl to cut the Cavalier lead in half at 2-1.
“Our base running today was not very good,” Coach Strong said. “(Carroll County’s) a fundamentally good ball club. We’ve got to continue to get better and play smart and not run ourselves out of a ball game.”
Richlands moved ahead for good in the bottom of the third stanza. Hearl singled and came home on a double by Barnett. That run tied the game at 2-2, but it didn’t hold up long before Barnett scored on an Eric Stiltner groundout.
The Blues tacked on two more tallies in the fifth off Carroll relief pitcher Anno. Hearl walked and Barnett singled. Both runners moved up on a groundout by Elswick. A throwing error off the bat of Keene plated Hearl and Barnett to wrap up the RHS scoring on the day.
Carroll County picked up one run in the top of the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Blues’ lead.
“Our pitchers did a great job and our offense came in a did what we needed
to do today,” coach Strong said. “We’ve got Abingdon coming up Friday. They’re always sound, but we’re not shabby either.”


BLUEFIELD- It was close, just like it was in their first meeting this season! It was wild, just like it was in their first meeting this season. It was Richlands, winning over Grayson County- just like it was in their first meeting this season!
This time the setting was the 35th annual Allen Coppinger Jr. Tournament at Bowen Field in Bluefield and the game went right down to the wire last Saturday before the Tornado finally managed to pull out a crazy 10-9 non-district victory to stay undefeated on the year at 6-0.
Grayson County scored first, plating three first inning runs and adding another one in the top of the second for a quick 4-0 edge.
Richlands responded with a three-run bottom of the second to move to within one run at 4-3.
The Blue Devils made it a 5-3 game in the third frame with a single run.
Still playing catch up baseball, the Tornado tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but Grayson added a pair of runs to its total in the top of the fifth and held a 7-5 lead after five full innings were in the book.
Richlands made its big move in the bottom of the sixth when the Blues came up with five runs and their first lead of the contest at 10-7.
The Devils rallied for two seventh inning runs, but came up a run short of tying the game.
Taylor Sizemore (2-0) picked up the pitching win in relief. Eric Stiltner starred at the plate for RHS with a 3-for-3 performance and joined teammate Bradley Strong with two RBI each. Barnett batted in the final two Richlands runs in the game.
“Grayson County’s got a great ball club,” said Richlands head coach Brad Strong. “We’re excited about the way we came back and stayed in the ball game. We want to win the tournament.”

By DAVE COX/Staff
Abingdon went 18 inning in a scoreless tie against Tazewell on Tuesday before the game was suspended, so what was in store when the Lady Falcons paid a visit to Williams Field last Wednesday to square off against the undefeated and unscored on Richlands Lady Blues? What the fans got was perhaps the weirdest softball game they’d ever watched!
Richlands (3-0, 2-0 Southwest District) pulled out a controversial 2-1 win over the previously unbeaten Falcons in a game that featured three double plays and another one that was ruled as a single out when the home plate umpire ruled that RHS pitcher Lindsey Lester trapped the ball on a play that was clearly a clean catch before she threw over to first base to double up a base runner.
The weirdest thing happened an inning earlier! One Tornado player accounted for two straight outs. She hit a foul ball that touched her foot. The umpire near second base correctly ruled her out. The player, thinking she had simply hit a routine foul, returned to the plate and continued to bat. The plate umpire did not notice that the same batter was at the plate and allowed her to continue. She hit a fly ball that was caught by the Falcon shortstop. With just one out showing on the scoreboard, the Abingdon scorekeeper protested that there should be two outs. A long delay ensued while the coaches and umpires tried to sort things out. Eventually, the player was ruled to have batted out of turn, accounting for the second out.
“I really don’t know what happened on that play,” said Richlands head coach Rhonda Blevins. “It was just an honest mistake by the kid. She didn’t know they had called her out. She thought it was just a foul. I thought it was just a foul. There was a lot of confusion. It was kind of a crazy game, but the important thing is, our girls hung in there, played good ball and played tough ball.”
Abingdon (2-1, 2-1) scored the first run allowed by Richlands this season in the top of the seventh inning after Lester (3-0) had thrown hitless ball through the first five frames before allowing a pair of safeties in the sixth inning. It appeared that that run would hold up until Abingdon relief pitcher Sha Tara Cooper, who had pitched all 18 innings against Tazewell on Tuesday, walked Lester to leadoff the bottom of the seventh. Carolyn Weaver came in as a courtesy runner for Lester.
Cooper forced two outs and things were looking bleak for the Blues until Morgan Hill singled to center. Emily Mohon batted next and hit a grounder to the shortstop. She made what appeared to be a perfect throw to first base. However, the first baseman dropped the ball and Weaver slid across the plate to tie the game. The Falcons, which had played error free to that point, stood in disbelief that the final out of the game hadn’t happened and that they hadn’t won, watched Hill come home with the game winner without trying to make a play on her. The Tornado dugout erupted in celebration!
“We’ve got some things we need to work on,” said Blevins. “But the kids pulled it together and I can’t brag on them enough.”


By DAVE COX/Staff
KINGSPORT- After a slow start in the Eastman Invitational softball tournament last Friday, Richlands cranked up its offense in a big way to score 36 combined runs against two teams Saturday to earn a 3-1 record in the two-day event.
The Lady Blues suffered their lone loss in the tourney opener on Friday when they met tournament host school Dobyns-Bennett and quickly fell behind the Lady Indians 5-0 in the top of the first inning. RHS responded with three runs in the bottom of the first frame, but eventually lost 8-3 to suffer their first los of the season.
The Blues mustered just three hits against a very good Dobyns-Bennett pitcher. Cassie Ringstaff had two safeties and Holly Bandy one. Bandy made some spectacular catches in the outfield during the game.
“We came out and had a bad inning,” said Richlands head coach Rhonda Blevins. “I think we have a good group of girls who can learn from this situation and remember how it feels. I told them I’d rather have it happen now than next week.” Blevins was referring to a meeting coming up with district rival Tazewell on the road this Thursday.
The Blues second game of the day Friday evening resulted in a 1-1 tie with Seymour (TN). Under tournament rules, each team is awarded a win in a tie situation, so the Tornado finished its work Friday with a 1-1 record. Lindsey Lester finished 1-1 as a pitcher Friday.
The lone RHS hit against Seymour came on a RBI double from Jenny Keene. Lester gave up just one hit to the Lady Eagles in the contest.
Saturday was a complete turnaround for Richlands (6-1, 2-0 Southwest District). The Blues struck early and often in a 14-4 rout of Oak Ridge (TN).
Lester picked up the pitching victory and was backed by a 13-hit performance from her offense. Megan Robinson had a double and batted in three runs. Lester and Evan Ferrell knocked in two runs and collected a pair of hits each. Ringstaff and Carolyn Weaver also had a RBI apiece in the game.
The tournament finale turned into an even bigger rout for the Lady Blues as they romped to a lopsided 22-4 victory over East Ridge (KY) in a game shortened to just four innings by the 15-run mercy rule. Lindsey Lester banged out four hits, including a 3-run home run in a 12-run third inning for Richlands. Keene followed Lester at bat in the frame and belted a solo homer for the Blues. Those two back-to-back shots were the only round trippers for RHS in the tournament. The Tornado scored runs in every inning of the contest. Lester finished with six runs batted in while Ringstaff went 4-for-4 at the plate and had two RBI. Keene was 3-for-4 with one RBI. The Blues collected a total of 18 hits in the game. Lester (6-1) picked up her third pitching win of the tournament.


By DAVE COX/Staff
WARDELL- The undefeated Richlands boy’s soccer team made a big mistake by scoring the first goal of the Southwest District match against county rival Tazewell on Monday, April 7, according to Blues’ coach Dennis Carr.
“We scored too early,” said Carr. “We scored too early and we hit cruise control.”
Richlands (3-1, 1-1 SWD) later found out that it’s not wise to take the defending district champion Bulldogs lightly, even though they may be without the services of talented T. J. Rasnick who has been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and is unable to play soccer this season.
Tazewell’s Glen Blankenship tied the match with a goal in the 39th minute of the match and the Bulldogs did a little cruising of their own from there on their way to a big 3-1 victory over the improved Tornado.
“We wanted it bad,” said Tazewell coach Jeremy Call. “We got on the bus. Nobody was goofing off. Everyone was just getting focused and ready to play.”
Carr had a different assessment of his team’s effort. “We just got outplayed,” he said. “They wanted it more than we did. We just played with no heart. I don’t think it’s experience. I don’t think it’s talent. We just did not play with heart today. That’s what it boils down to, we did not want it more than they did.”
Just four minutes into the match, Albert Fajardo delivered the ball into the upper left corner of the goal off an assist by Kheven Schweingruber to give the host Blues a 1-0 edge, but that would be the extent of their offense for the day.
Blankenship’s goal near halftime came off a loose ball from high in the air near the RHS net. Blankenship out-jumped Richlands goalie Chad Cole and a defender and put a header into the net to tie the contest.
Tazewell wasted little time moving ahead for good as Jarred Angles sent a corner kick into the Tornado penalty area. Cole jumped on the ball, but somehow it eluded him just long enough to cross the goal line before he could recover it again.
The Bulldogs added an insurance goal in the 71st minute on a Harrison Litz goal on the right side of the net.
Richlands was right back in action on Tuesday with a non-district home match against Lebanon, a team the Blues defeated in the Southwest Virginia Cup tournament at Tazewell earlier this season.
“I challenged them on what they want to do with the season,” said Carr. “I told them to give me their answer tomorrow on the field.”
Tazewell (4-1, 1-1) will travel to Carroll County on Monday for a district match with the Cavaliers.
“It was great to win,” said Call. “But as far as the rest of the district I know it’s going to be tough. We can’t let up now. We’ve got to keep going, have to work extra hard.”


By DAVE Cox/Staff
TAZEWELL- Abbey Kitts headlined a big Southwest District win for Tazewell against arch rival Richlands in girl’s soccer on Tuesday, April 8 as she scored two goals and added an assist. Heather Wells and Laken McReynolds also had a goal each as the Lady Bulldogs held a 3-0 lead at halftime and added a final score in the second half to finish the shutout. Haylee Walker had an assist for THS.
Tracy Muncy had four saves in goal for Tazewell.