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Game 1 Photo Gallery
RADFORD, Va. – A six-run, seventh inning rally by the Gray team highlighted a seven-run comeback in an 8-7 win over the White team in Game 1 of the 2009 Radford Baseball Fall World Series on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, Gray has a 1-0 advantage in the series, which continues Friday at 3:30 p.m.
The six-run seventh inning featured a two-run single up the middle by redshirt sophomore center fielder
Zach Costello (South Riding, Va./Paul VI). Costello would later score when freshman catcher
Daniel Wright (Weyers Cave, Va./Fort Defiance) singled to right center field, driving in two more runs and giving the Gray team an 8-7 lead that it didn’t give up.
Costello was 2-for-2 on the day, scoring two runs and driving in two runs. Wright finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Gray team.
Freshman left-hander
James Woods (Radford, Va./Radford) picked up the win for Gray, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings while giving up only two hits and striking out two. Sophomore right-handed closer
Jason Patten (Davidsonville, Md./Archbishop Spalding), Radford’s new single-season saves leader, got the final three outs to pick up the save.
Senior right-hander
Aerik Taylor (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport), a 2009 All-Big South pick, pitched five solid innings for the White team, scattering seven hits and striking out five in a no-decision.
Senior second baseman
Rick Hoogstraten (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) and freshman right fielder
Cory Turner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) both turned in 3-for-4 days at the plate with an RBI each for the White team.
White junior catcher
Robert Lamas (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) blasted the game’s only home run, a two-run shot over the left field fence in the second inning, and finished 1-for-3.
The Gray team captured an early 1-0 lead in the first on a
Ryan Burgess (Richmond, Va./The Steward School) RBI single to left field. White answered back in the bottom of the inning, scoring on a throwing error and a single by senior first baseman
Andrew Cook (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) through the left side.
The hot bats continued for White in the bottom of the second, scoring five runs, which featured the two-run Lamas homer.
Sophomore shortstop
Brett Mollenhauer (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) got one run back in the top of the sixth for the Gray team when he singled down the left field line, scoring Costello, before the six-run outburst in the seventh.
POST GAME QUOTES
Gray coach Allen Rice - “I thought we came out and we didn’t play real well offensively or defensively in the beginning of the game, but they hung in there and grinded out some at bats. Woodsy came in and did a nice job in the middle innings to keep it where it was and they strung some at bats together at the end.”
White coach Rick Oliveri - “It was a tough game and obviously we didn’t come out on the right end, but I thought our guys played real well. Early in the game the bats were going and they cooled off a little bit. They had some good relief pitching and shut us down a little but, but there a few more games to go and it’s not over.”
Recap by Radford Athletic Communications Student Justin Thompson