The Bears win one for the Skipper

BEARS WIN ONE FOR ‘THE SKIPPER’
By JERRY SCOTT/Staff

The Bears won one for ‘The Skipper.” On the day when the Skip Dillow Memorial Field was officially dedicated, Bland County’s Bears reached deep into their hearts and talents to put forth an effort that would have made Edgar Eugene Dillow proud. Braving blustery temperatures, the Bears capped an emotional day by dominating visiting Galax 11-2 to get their first district win of the season.
Led by Dakotah Crouse, the Bears avenged an earlier loss to Galax and improved to 5-9 overall and 1-6 in the MED. Other than walking three batters and hitting three more, the Rocky Gap High senior (2-4) flipped a gem on the mound by holding the Maroon Tide to a mere three hits while striking out five.
Crouse also got it done at the plate where he collected three of Bland County’s 12 hits. Twice he scored on hits by battery-mate Cody Blessing, who also had three hits and tied the program’s single game record for runs batted in during a game with five. Nathan Cox added two hits and two RBIs for the winners.
The Bears jumped out to a huge lead early on and were never challenged by Galax. Bland County led 8-0 after one inning after spanking eight opening frame hits against Maroon Tide starter and loser Drew Burnette.
Jacob Lambert opened the bottom of the first with a single and stole second before scoring on a single by Cox. Burnette hit Josh Pennington with a pitch and a single from Crouse loaded the bases. After Eric Harless struck out, Blessing ripped the first of his hits to give the Bears a 3-0 edge.
Josh Blevins’ single combined with a Galax error on the hit made it 4-0 before the Bears re-stuffed the bases on a single by Jacob Mercer. Brandon Agee came through with a two-run single and Blevins later scored on a passed ball as the lead swelled to 7-0. The final run scored after Lambert grounded into a force out and, after stealing second again, scored on Cox’s second single of the inning.
Galax countered in the top of the second as the Maroon Tide combined two singles, an error, and two walks into scoring two runs. With his team still ahead 8-2, Crouse mastered the Maroon Tide thereafter as a Todd Nichols single in the top of the fourth was the last of Galax’s hits. Galax managed only four baserunners from the second inning on.
Burnette was holding the Bears in check as well as he sat the Bears down in order from the second through fourth innings. Then in the fifth, Bland County scored a run on a single by Crouse and a triple by Blessing before tacking on two more runs in the sixth for the final 11-2 score.
In the sixth, Lambert reached on a three-base error by Wes Crawford but was thrown out at the plate trying to stretch the play into the Bears’ 10th run. That came later as Pennington reached on a fielder’s choice and Crouse singled prior to a hit batter and Blessing’s third hit, a two-out, bases filled single for two RBIs.
Burnette went the distance for the Maroon Tide. He struck out six while walking two and hitting three batters. Besides Nichols, Galax also got singles by Zach Robinson and Jacob Woodell.

GALAX (n/a)
Name ab r h rbi
Nichols ss 3 0 1 1
Houk 3b 3 0 0 0
Burnette p 4 0 0 0
House 1b 4 0 0 0
Robinson lf 1 1 1 0
Woodell c 3 1 1 0
Crawford rf 3 0 0 0
Alouf cf 1 0 0 0
Shaffner ph 0 0 0 0
B. Cox 2b 3 0 0 0
25 2 3 1

BLAND COUNTY (1-6, 5-9)
Name ab r h rbi
Lambert ss 4 2 1 0
N. Cox 2b 2 1 2 2
Pennington cf 3 2 0 0
Crouse p 4 3 3 0
Harless 1b 3 0 0 0
Blessing c 4 0 3 5
Blankenship pr 0 1 0 0
Blevins dh 3 1 1 1
Taylor rf 0 0 0 0
Mercer lf 3 1 1 0
Agee 3b 3 0 1 2
29 11 12 10

Galax 020 000 0—2
Bland County 800 012 x—11

Errors—Crawford (2), Mercer. LOB—Galax 8, BC 4. DP—Galax 1. 3B—Blessing. SB—Nichols (2), Robinson, Lambert (2), N. Cox. CS—Blessing.

GALAX ip r h bb k
Burnette (L) 6.0 11 12 2 6
BLAND COUNTY
Crouse (W 2-4) 7.0 2 3 3 5
PB—Woodell, Blessing. HBP—by Burnette (N. Cox, Pennington, Harless), by Crouse (Nichols, Robinson, Shaffner).