February 26, 2010
Terry Logan
Aside from marking the opening of the 2010 high school baseball season at Richmond Hill, Tuesday's 'Cats Nite Out' game had a dual significance this year. Richmond Hill edged Bryan County in a tightly contested game 11-8 to mark the Wildcats first win of the season and also marking Head Coach Mitchell Curry’s 100th win since taking over as head coach at Richmond Hill seven seasons ago.
"It was a real relief to get that 100th win out of the way.It was a good game and Bryan County came in ready to play and gave us a tough battle," Curry said while giving his kudos to the Redskins and their new head coach Tony Dragon. After having a fairly easy time of capturing the bragging rights trophy the last couple seasons, this time around was anything but easy.
"We hit well, but didn’t pitch or field well," BCHS Coach Dragon said. "We still have a lot of work to do in those aspects of the game, but look for some improvement as we get a few more games under our belt."
The Wildcats would have to use their pitching depth to overcome what was a semi sloppy defensive game for both teams. A three run third inning gave the Wildcats the lead back, making Josh Candelario the winner in relief as Cody Crow pitched a scoreless seventh for the save.
Bryan County got on the board in the first after leadoff man Zach Shinall got hit by a Billy Kilmer pitch and scored after Cody Cowe’s infield single advanced him and Garrett Riggleman’s RBI infield single drove him home.
The Wildcats then countered with a pair of runs on Cody Rushing’s RBI double, who later scored on a wild pitch. Bryan County starter Cody Crowe experienced a rough spot in the second when he gave up two unearned runs by walking and hitting the first two batters, who were then driven in by Richmond Hill’s Cody Crow on a sacrifice fly and by designated hitter Kevin Davis’ single. Richmond Hill starter Kilmer met a similar fate in the third.
Four Redskin runs scored before eventual winning pitcher Josh Candelario relieved and left a pair of runners stranded when he coaxed the final two outs on a pair of ground balls. It was the turning point of the game and the Redskin lead would be short lived.Senior catcher Rushing added two more RBIs to his total of four on the night with a fourth inning single. First baseman Ryan Esenwein followed with an RBI single. It was all the offense Candelario needed as the Redskin pitching could not match up.
The Wildcats scored four runs off reliever Cameron Lee in the fifth, who issued four walks and failed to record an out. Lee did lead the Redskins at the plate going 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs, Garrett Riggleman finished the game 3 for 4 with a double and 4 RBIs.
"It was great to win the county championship again and we're excited about it ... but we have a lot of work to do if we are going to compete in this region," said Curry. He also said he is excited about their prospects.
While there were some defensive miscues against the Redskins, they also had some stellar play from center fielder Conner Mitchell and right fielder Adam Moe with a pair of hit robbing catches in the fourth inning. The Wildcat pitching had thirteen strikeouts. Curry would have liked to see them run the bases better as they had a couple of players picked off, but they also had three stolen bases, a couple of sacrifices and some clutch hits.
The Wildcats will be led by a trio of left handed starters: juniors Billy Kilmer, Kevin Matthews and senior Josh Candelario - all with varsity starting experience. The team will look mainly to its seniors for the leadership on offense. Cody Rushing and Cody Crow will anchor that lineup and are joined this season by newcomer Trent O’Brien.
With only three position players returning from last season, Curry is hoping the underclassmen will step up too. Next test for the Wildcats is this weekend's tournament in Brunswick. Saturday they will face Mountainview at 1 p.m. Tuesday March 2 they will be back home against Wayne County at 5:30 p.m.
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