Roanoke…Can you say heart stopper? Weather delay? Questionable calls? The Pulaski Co. Cougar baseball team faced all that as they lost at Cave Spring by a score of 4-3.
Down 4-0 after six innings the comeback Cougars did just that. Hunter Shrewsbury hit a grounder to short that was bobbled as he reached base. Camden Underwood then stroked a double in the gap to left center off the fence. Tyler Waddell then hit a sharp single to center that scored both Shrewsbury and Underwood. That hit knocked the Knights starting pitcher Logan Altizer off the mound and brought in Daniel Cook. Then it starts to rain and lightning was seen off in the distance that sent both teams to their dugouts by the umps. After a 30 minute delay and it still raining, the game would restart. Jordan Lytton hit a single to center putting Waddell to second and still no one out. Trent Blankenship would then pop out to the first baseman as he was trying to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Braeden Blevins then hit a grounder to the second baseman who flipped the ball to the shortstop covering second for the second out, but Blevins beat the throw to first. Jon Osteen stepped up to the plate and drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Andrew Lowe, the Cougars’ leading RBI man for the season, came to the plate and took ball one. He then hit the second pitch over the outreach of the Knights second baseman in short right field scoring Waddell. Blevins slid across home plate, but the ump called him out. This was the most questionable call of the game. It looked as if he had slid the lower part of his body over the plate and the catcher either tagged him up high or not at all for the final out of the game. Questionable call number three!!
In the top of the third inning, Blevins hit a rope over the first base bag that looked, at worst, hit or brought up chalk, but the ball was called foul that cost a the Cougars a run and a double for him. Questionable call number one.
The Knights (14-3) had taken an early 2-0 lead in bottom of the second as Trey Hodson singled and catcher Caleb Pritchard hit a two-run home run over the left field fence that landed in the school bus parking lot. The score would stay that way until bottom of the fifth when Nelson Stanley walked and pitcher Altizer hit a two-run homer over the left centerfield fence for a 4-0 lead. Altizer, 3 for 3 at the plate, scored a run and knocked in two with his homer. He pitched six innings, getting the victory as he gave up four runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out four Cougar batters. Cook went one inning walked one, allowed three hits and surrendered a run.
This was the Cougars 18th game of the season. All season long, Coach King has had two of his players to chart pitches using a radar gun. In the fourth inning of their 18th game, the field umpire told Coach King he would have to keep his players in the dugout. When Coach King approached the ump for an explanation, he abruptly told him, “End of discussion.” Questionable call number two.
“We faced a lot of adversity here today,” said Cougar head coach Jared King. “I’m very proud of how my guys handled all of it. We battled and competed all game. We had a great chance at the end of the game and that’s all you can ask of your team. We had to start this game early because of weather, then we had a 30 minute delay for lightning and we still battled and competed.”
This game was a heart stopper and it was a heck of a comeback that fell a couple calls short. It was also the first time, that anyone can remember, a public announcer has every said over the PA to respect the umpires. The Cougars were very respectful during and after a game that was questionably taken away from them, or one that could have been tied.
Coach King remarked, ”It was a heck of a play they made to end the game and it was a very emotional game. The Knights starter kept us off balance for the first six inns. It was tough one to lose.”
Pulaski Co. (10-7-1) was led by Waddell who was 2 for 3 and had two RBIs and scored once. Trent Blankenship was 2 for 3, and Lowe went 2 for 3 and knocked in one . Danner took the tough loss from the mound and Thomas Anderson pitched the last two innings giving up no hits and struck out two.
The Cougars will be back in action Monday as they travel to Hillsville to take on the Carroll Co. Cavaliers. First pitch is slated for 5:00 pm.
R H E LOB
Cave Spring 4 7 1 6
Pulaski Co. 3 8 0 6
Cave Spring – WP- Altizer
Pulaski Co. – LP – Danner – (2-3)