Blues up record to 16-0 in baseball

By DAVE COX/Staff
It’s down to just a single Southwest District win for the undefeated Richlands varsity baseball team to place the regular season crown in their trophy case!
The Blues clinched at least a tie for the conference title last Thursday with a 9-2 thumping of visiting Abingdon at the Southwest Virginia Community College field at Wardell.
Jordan Barnett pitched a brilliant three-hitter in a complete game effort on the mound while the Blues’ offense was busy racking up nine hits against three different Falcon hurlers. Barnett fanned 11 batters and did not walk anyone. Abingdon hurt its cause with six fielding errors while the Blues played mistake free.
Taylor Sizemore batted in a run and scored once, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Freshman Bradley Strong also had one RBI and scored twice for the Tornado. He went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Nathan Hagy was 2-for-3 for Abingdon with a RBI and one run scored. Richlands (17-0, 10-0 SWD) has two games remaining in the regular season. The first, at Grundy, was scheduled for Tuesday, May 13. The second is set for Friday, May 16 at Tazewell.