Raider boys get big win over OA
South Ripley baseball scored a big victory on Tuesday night, going to Liberty Park and delivering two runs in the top of the fifth to defeat Oldenburg Academy by a 4-3 final score.
The victory for the Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak which had been extended as part of two losses this past week against Waldron and Hauser. South Ripley had just scrimmaged Oldenburg two weeks prior to the start of the regular season.
South Ripley scored two runs in the top of the first inning but Oldenburg answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the second and a go-ahead run in the bottom of the third. The Raiders scored those two fifth inning runs and held the Twisters scoreless the rest of the way.
Mason McNew busted a triple and was 2-for-4 with a run scored for South Ripley while Landon Adams had two hits and a run. Trenton Smith had a hit and RBI with two runs and sophomore Trevor Castner added a single to the cause. Smith and freshman Brogan Buchanan each had a team-high two stolen bases.
McNew got the pitching win, throwing four innings in relief and allowing no runs on two hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Braxton Wilson started the game and gave up three unearned runs on three hits over three innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Oldenburg statistics were not received by time of print.
South Ripley fell 7-4 at Waldron last Friday night. The host Mohawks opened things up with six runs in the bottom of the third inning and held off a late Raider charge which saw three runs in the final two frames.
Freshman Ethan Schmaltz hit two doubles for South Ripley and was responsible for driving in a run. Wilson had two singles with a run, and both Austin Hodge and Castner drove in a run on a base hit. McNew went 1-for-3 with a double and a run. McNew’s day also included a pitching loss, allowing five earned runs on three hits over two innings with four walks and two strikeouts. Waldron senior Jacob Bennett got the win after striking out 15 batters over six frames.
Hauser on Saturday had no trouble with the Raiders, winning 17-1 in Versailles. The Jets limited South Ripley to only one hit while their offense tacked on 11 runs in the opening inning and never looked back.
Simeon Wasil, R.J. Foster and Holden Pittman lifted Hauser and combined for eight hits (two of which were triples), 10 RBI and five runs scored. Pittman tossed a complete game on the mound and got the win with six strikeouts and three walks. He gave up an unearned run in a five-inning game decided early with the mercy rule in effect.
Schmaltz had the lone South Ripley hit which was a double. Brady Ruble took the loss, lasting just one-third of an inning. He gave up nine runs -eight earned- on five hits with a walk.
South Ripley (2-3) is off until April 15 when they host Southwestern (Hanover) in an Ohio River Valley Conference game.
