by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Lancaster capped a 12-5 regular season with a slaughter-rule win over Middlesex, 13-3, in a varsity baseball game at Dream Fields in Kilmarnock Monday.
Lancaster has already secured a home berth in the May 23 Region 1A tournament first round, but just missed a spot in this week’s Northern Neck District tournament as the fifth place team.
“It was a tough last three weeks making sure we got all our games in [with the weather],” said Saunders. “But the boys worked hard and hopefully we can make a post-season run.”
Lancaster went through four pitchers in Monday’s win over the Chargers with Nick Wohleking starting on the mound, Danny Hinson coming in for two innings and Spencer Crittenden closing. Senior Jayson Gill made his pitching debut between Hinson and Crittenden.
Demarcus Doggett led the Devils at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Gill went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Wohleking and Crittenden had three runs each.
The Devils opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning on an Adam Wilmore walk, Matthew Kleinfelter single and doubles by Wohleking and Gill. Lancaster put three more runs on the board in the second on four walks, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice.
The Devils scored two on a double by Crittenden in the third and rallied for a four-run fifth inning with singles by Hinson and Crittenden and Wohleking double.
Doggett led off the sixth with a single and scored on a double by Crittenden to end the game on the 10-run rule.
Northumberland 6
Lancaster 5
Collin Saunders scored the go-ahead run for Northumberland in the bottom of the sixth last Friday when NHS edged Lancaster, 6-5.
Saunders hit a lead-off single, then stole second, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a single’s choice to give the host Indians the lead in the first inning. Lancaster answered with two in the top of the second when Gill and Chris Cunningham drew two-out walks and scored on a single by Crittenden.
The Indians took a 4-2 lead in the third with three runs on two hits, walk and error and added another run by Saunders in the fourth.
The Devils rallied for three runs to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth. Crittenden and Hinson reached on hits and Kleinfelter drew a walk to load the bases for a two-run single by Adam Wilmore and a one-RBI single by Wohleking.
Saunders hit a single in the sixth and stole second before scoring on a single for the win for NHS.
Kleinfelter pitched all six innings for LHS, allowing seven hits and striking out 10. He and Crittenden led LHS at the plate with three hits each.
