Red Devils Pound Buccaneers

March 28, 2011

By Denis Vass of Graham High School


 Pitcher Andrew Brann for Bartlett Yancey was having a fantastic evening on the mound.  He was on his way to a 10-strikeout performance on the mound through 5 innings. 

  The Buccaneer's skipper decided to remove him after working through 111 pitches and giving up 4 runs.  Turns out to be a huge mistake, as the Red Devils (2-5, 1-1) jumped all over Richard Holt in the sixth inning.  Graham sent 11 batters to the plate and scored 6 runs to blow the Buccaneers all the way back to Yanceyville and silence the country hecklers who argued with every pitch and play in the field.  
  
  Holt faced only five Red Devils, but every one of them got on, and every one of them scored.  Dillon Brown got things started when he lofted a fly ball to right.  Oops.  It was dropped by Jacob Plelps.  Josh Beam followed Brown with a walk, and then Matt Holley was plunked by a ball to load the bases.  Rigoberto Mendoza blasted a double to score Brown and Beam.

  Dominique Snipes then walked on four straight pitches.  That closed the door on Holt, but the Red Devils were not finished.  Harrison Holt was brought in to try to stop the bleeding.  Up sixth was Maurisio Mendoza, who smashed a ball to shortstop.  Another Buccaneer error led to Rigoberto Mendoza scoring on the play, with Snipes scooting to third and Maurisio Mendoza to second.  Unnerved by the shaky defense, Holt balked in Snipes for Graham's fifth run.  After a ground out by Justin Luck for the first out of the inning, Brandon Ray, pinch hitting for Carson Stiens, rapped a single to right field to score Mendoza.

  Things started good for Bartlett Yancey (1-2 Mid State) when they scored two runs in the top of the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead.  Both runs were unearned, the first on an error by Graham's pitcher Rigoberto Mendoza, and the second on a passed ball by catcher Carson Stiens.

  Graham evened things back up scoring twice in the bottom of the second.  Rigoberto Mendoza and Dominique Snipes both started the inning on four-pitch walks.  Maurisio Mendoza sacrificed the runners up, then Justin Luck singled both in.

  The Buccnaeers came right back in the top of the third to grab a 3-2 lead when Von Allen walked, stole second, and scored on Andrew Brann's single.

  Graham grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the fourth when Taylor Perry reached base on an error by shortstop Von Allen with two outs. Dillon Brown followed with a walk, then Josh Beam reached on a fielders choice to load the bases.  Matt Holley singled in Perry and Brown for a 4-3 Graham lead.

  Graham won it's second straight game after dropping the first five.  They appear to be finding their offensive groove at the right time.

 Rigoberto Mendoza went to the plate four times, walked twice, got two hits, scored twice, and drove in two runs.  Matt Holley was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI.  

  Rigoberto Mendza started the game, pitched 4 innings and gave up 3 runs, 1 earned. He struck out five, walked two, and left 3 on base.  Dillon Brown came in to pitch the fifth and sixth innings, allowing only one hit, a Ben Solomon solo home run.  He set down six of the seven batters he faced on 8 total pitches.  Solomon saw 2 pitches in his at-bat.  Brown was the winning pitcher for Graham.

  Harrison Holt led Bartlett Yancey, batting 2-for-4 with 1 run scored.  The Buccaneers scored four runs on six hits.  

  Graham will host Reidsville on Tuesday March 29th.