James River defeats George Wythe in baseball

By LEE GRIMES/Correspondent

The George Wythe varsity baseball team traveled to Buchanan to play in the Region C playoffs Tuesday night and fell to the James River Knights by a 7-3 score.
A second place finish in the Hogoheegee District tournament earned first year head coach Jason Luttrell and his Maroons an opportunity to play in the regional tournament. Although GW wasn’t able to overcome the strong play of James River, reaching the Region C tournament achieved an early season goal for Luttrell and his team.
Devin Smith started on the mound for George Wythe and pitched a strong game in the loss. Brett Grimes relieved Smith in the sixth inning. Aaron Allen pitched six innings for James River and was relieved by Concord University signee Caleb Dorton in the seventh to close the game.
George Wythe only managed one base runner in the top of the first inning when Smith was walked, but then stranded on base when a pop fly and two strike outs ended the side.
James River struck early when Brent Cummings reached base on a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Tucker. Freshman Tyler Duke hit a single to right field and later scored on an infield single from Grant Linthicum. Smith struck out two batters to end the inning with a 2-0 Knights lead.
The Maroons hit the ball in the top of the second inning, but a tough Knights defense made the put-outs when needed. Smith fell into his groove in the bottom of the second by striking out the first three JR batters to end the inning, keeping the score 2-0.
Vernon Holland led off for George Wythe in the top of the third inning with a hard hit double to right field. Jared Mosier replaced Vernon on second base to run for the GW catcher. Kelly Kline got the signal from Luttrell to lay down a bunt, but unfortunately it was fielded by James River who tagged Mosier out at third base. Kline reached first base, but was later thrown out when Robert Yonce hit a grounder to JR third baseman Dorton, who turned a double play to end the side.
James River scored another run in the bottom of the third when two batters reached base on a walk and a GW error. Tucker scored his first RBI of the game when he hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Cummings from third. Dorton then hit a long ball to Yonce in left field, who caught the ball and threw Duke out at home for a double play to end the inning. James River increased its lead to 3-0 going in to the top of the fourth inning.
Smith led off in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run that cleared the left-centerfield fence with plenty to spare. Josh Stephens followed by connecting on a double to the right field fence. Stephens then stole third base, but was left standing on a Maroon strikeout that ended the top of the inning.
George Wythe held strong in the bottom of the fourth by only allowing one base runner and keeping him stranded on second base. George Wythe was on the board, but still trailed by a 3-1 score at the end of four innings.
The Maroons went three up and three down in the top of the fifth inning.
James River scored its fourth run of the game on two singles from Cummings and Tucker to give the Knights a 4-1 lead.
George Wythe started a rally in the top of the sixth inning when Smith was intentionally walked and Grimes then reached first base when the JR pitcher attempted to throw Smith out at second and overthrew his target. BJ Cregger, who hit the ball well all night but couldn’t reach base, drove a pitch to right field for two RBIs, allowing both Smith and Grimes to come home safely. The rally was stalled on a GW strikeout, but narrowed the Knights lead going in to the bottom of the sixth inning.
James River answered with a double from Ryan Hepler and a home run from Oliver Surprenant which cushioned the Knight lead going in to the top of the seventh inning.
Two GW strikeouts and a put-out ended the game and the Maroons’ season.