Walks undo American Legion team

By Jason simcoe

Published: July 20, 2008

For five innings Sunday, Culpeper Post 330’s Ethan Russell had East Rockingham baffled. Then things got wild.

After Russell handcuffed the opposition, four Culpeper relievers combined to issue 10 walks and the visiting East Rockingham squad rallied to an 11-7 win.

Post 330 was fresh off a 12-3 win over North Rockingham the day before, and for a while Sunday, Russell and company appeared headed to another win.

The lanky left-hander kept the East Rockingham hitters off balance with a mixture of fastballs and breaking pitches, striking out eight.

“I felt good about it,” Russell said. “I was hitting my spots and I was getting groundballs.”

He left after five innings with a 3-1 lead thanks to a Culpeper outburst in the bottom half of the third.

After Josh Gardiner drew a one-out walk and Brandon Scott was hit by a pitch. Russell hit a long single to the wall in centerfield to bring home Gardiner and send Scott to third.

Scott scored when Travis Jenkins grounded out to the shortstop. Nolan Jenkins lined a single to left field to plate Russell.

“We put runs on the board,” Russell said.

But East Rockingham came roaring back. The squad turned four walks and an infield single into two runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game, then scored six times on just two hits in the seventh to take control for good.

Culpeper made one last push in the seventh. After Trevor Mack and Garrett Cole drew walks, John Lezcano singled to left field to drive in a run.

Later in the inning, Nolan Jenkins lined an RBI single – his third hit of the game – into left field. Brandon Mack followed it up with a two-run double into the gap in left-center to close the deficit to two runs.

“It was just one of those days,” Culpeper manager Jeff Crane said. “They made that little comeback and I was proud of them for that.”

That’s all the closer Post 330 would get. East Rockingham scored twice more in the ninth to round out the scoring.

It was East Rockingham’s second win of the summer against Post 330, but the Culpeper squad will try to win the one that matters most when the two teams meet again in Culpeper Wednesday during the opening round of the district tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

“Hopefully the third time will be the charm for us,” Crane said.