Red Devils knock off Woodstock

Matt Rock / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: August 4, 2007

The Culpeper Red Devils moved one step closer to repeating as Apple Valley League champions, defeating Woodstock 9-4 in the first game of the double-elimination tournament.

No. 3 seed Culpeper picked up the road win against No. 2 Woodstock on the arm of Evan Bache. Bache pitched a complete game, tallying six strikeouts in nine innings of work.

"It's beyond my comprehension that we would have gotten a complete game out of anybody today with this heat and humidity," Culpeper manager Jim Rutkowski said. "Evan's a big-time pitcher."

Bache attributed his performance to just about everyone else on the field.

"My back-up," Bache said, referring to his defense. "Brent (Rutkowski) did a good job behind the plate - can't ask for better."

Six Red Devils had multi-hit games, with Bryan Coffey having a 3-for-5 afternoon, with two RBIs and a run. Jason Rutkowski and Derek Powell each drove in two runs.

"We finally played our baseball. We haven't done that in a month and a half," Jim Rutkowski said. "We played the way we're capable of playing and that's what's so rewarding to me."

Culpeper jumps right back into tournament action with another away game today, facing No. 1 Rappahannock at the Culpeper American Legion field off of Route 229, first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.

Matt Rock can be reached at .