ASHLAND
– Henrico and Patrick Henry combined for four home runs, six doubles,
and 21 total base hits as the “Patriots” outslugged the “Warriors” 10-7
Monday night.  Once again, Henrico (5-4;1-1) allowed one big inning
from which it could not recover.

“You just can’t let a good team put up a big number and expect to
win,” said head coach Ken Schrad.  “I’ll be tossing and turning all
night wondering what could have been if we hadn’t allowed those nine
runs in the bottom of the fourth.”

Henrico led 3-1 at that point.  Seth Cutler-Voltz opened the game
with a double.  He moved to third on a sacrifice fly by Adam Tombs and
then scored easily on JC Poma’s RBI single.

Patrick Henry (4-2) tied the game in the bottom of the second with a walk, a single and an error.

In the third, Tyler Moses reached on an infield hit. Cutler-Voltz
singled and Toombs bunted to advance each another 90-feet. Poma was
intentially walked to load the bases. “Patriot” starter “Boomer”
Rodriguez then unintentionally walked Taylor Smith to score Moses.

“Warrior” starter Michael Mansfield struggled but survived the
bottom of the third. A walk, a hit batter, and another walk loaded the
bases with two outs. But, Chris Beazley lined-out to short to end the
threat.

Patrick Hughes hit a solo home run to open the fourth inning giving
Henrico a 3-1 lead.  But, Mansfield was not so lucky in the bottom of
the inning.  An infield hit by Ryan Smith started a hit barrage that
included a smash to first base that took a wicked hop on Alvin Hence.
Cory Jackson made it hurt by hitting a three-run home run to straight
away centerfield.  Another hit by Derrick Brewer and Mansfield was done.

Brandon Gunnell was asked to put out the fire.  He only added fuel
to it. He gave up a hit, hit a batter, gave up another hit, and then
walked in a run.  That made the score 6-3.

Toombs took the hill to face the top of the Patrick Henry order. 
Smith greeted him with a two-RBI double.  Bo Taylor added a two-RBI
single before Henrico could record the necessary two outs to stop the
bleeding.

Despite the 10-3 deficit, Henrico refused to quit.  A Mansfield hit
and a Hughes walk in the top of the sixth led to Todd Sparrow’s two-RBI
double.  Toombs held Patrick Henry scoreless in the fifth and sixth
innings.

In the seventh, Cutler-Voltz singled and Poma sent a fastball out
over the centerfield fence to make it 10-7.   Henrico loaded the bases
only to see the game end on a ground ball that could not slip through
the middle of the “Patriot” defense.

“We put up enough runs.  Unfortunately, our pitchers walked six and
plunked four others.  Add a couple of defensive blunders and the
mountain was much too high to climb,” said Schrad.

Henrico gets back into Capital District play on Wednesday hosting
Lee Davis.  That game will mark the half-way point of the regular
season as the school prepares for Spring Break.

The JV game was quite similar to the varsity contest.  Patrick Henry
prevailed 9-7.  The JV squad will play again Thursday at Lee Davis.