The Shadow
COVINGTON – On Friday, July 7th the Covington Lumberjacks playing in their second straight doubleheader, dropped both games to the visiting Culpeper Cavaliers at Casey Field.
Playing in two seven-inning games, Covington’s rally came up short in the bottom of the seventh inning as Culpeper held off the Lumberjacks for a 5-4 victory.
With the score tied 3-3 entering the top half of the seventh inning, Culpeper had the bases loaded with one out. On the second pitch of the at bat Cavaliers left fielder Keith Savoy was hit by the pitch which allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Two batters later, Grayson Fitzwater added an insurance run for Culpeper as he delivered a two-out RBI single to put the Cavaliers ahead 5-3.
Down two runs and facing their final outs of the first of two games, Covington’s first two batters went down quickly for the first two outs. The next two batters Kendry Noriega and Logan Braunschweig would walk to put the potential tying run on base.
Now with two runners on Chenar Brown on the first pitch of his at bat ripped an RBI single that scored Noriega which cut the deficit down to just one run at 5-4.
Covington would get both Braunschweig and Brown to advance to second and third base on a double steal. However, Christopher Watson after a tough at bat in which he fouled off four pitches, would strike out to end game one of the doubleheader.
Fitzwater led Culpeper with a three-hit game, along with a pair of RBIs. Out of the bullpen Brian Curley, of Midlothian, VA, picked up the win after tossing four innings where he allowed one run on three hits, while walking two, and striking out six.
The Lumberjacks had jumped out early on the Cavaliers as they led 3-0 early on after the first inning behind RBIs from Noriega, Brown, and Edinson Renteria Jr. Brown led the team with three hits in four plate appearances, along with two RBI’s.
Out of the bullpen, Jacob Heath suffered the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings.
Game One
Culpeper 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 – 5 8 1
Covington 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 4 10 3
The second game of the doubleheader featured plenty of offense between both teams as Culpeper for the second straight game held off Covington for a 10-8 victory to sweep the doubleheader.
Despite the close score the Cavaliers were in command the entire seven innings and never trailed.
Culpeper opened the game in the first two innings by taking an early 6-1 lead after scoring three runs in each of the first and second innings.
Although they trailed, Covington kept fighting and from the third inning on would put runs on the scoreboard in each inning.
Similar to the first game where the Lumberjacks trailed by a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, the team found itself trailing 10-7 in game two heading into the bottom of the seventh inning while also facing two outs before putting runs on the scoreboard. Michael Pavelchak brought the Lumberjacks within two runs following an RBI single.
With Pavelchak on first base, Christopher Watson followed with a single of his own. Watson now on base represented the potential tying run. The rally though would be halted one batter later as Logan Braunschweig grounded out to third base to end the game.
Braunschweig, Kendry Noriega, and Victor Sanchez each had two hits for Covington in game two, while Sanchez led the team with three RBI’s, including a two-run home run during the third inning. It was Sanchez’s second home run of the season. Pavelchak added a pair of RBIs.
Making his 2023 VBL debut, Edgar Rodriguez suffered the loss for the Lumberjacks after giving up six runs (three earned) on five hits in just one inning on the mound. Christopher Gronemans and Tyler Monzon also made appearances out of the bullpen.
Keith Savoy led Culpeper with three hits in four trips to the plate, along with a pair of RBIs. Reese Beheler led the Cavaliers with three RBIs, while Ethan Serrano of Mechanicsville, VA, also had a pair of RBIs. Iyke (Jay) Aghanya of Herndon, VA picked up the win for the Cavs out of the bullpen despite allowing four runs on three hits in two innings.
The losses for Covington pushed their losing streak to three in a row.
Game Two
Culpeper 3 3 1 2 0 1 0 – 10 11 0
Covington 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 – 8 10 1
