The Craig County baseball team has two games scheduled for this week, weather permitting, as they wrap up the regular season. The Pioneer District tournament is scheduled to be played next week.
The Rockets dropped two games last week to fall to 0-13 on the season. They played at Narrows on Tuesday of last week and lost 11-1.
“Narrows is a tough matchup for us but we have shown a lot of improvement since we lost to them 33-1 in April,” said Craig coach Jaime Mick. “Couple early walks and errors dug us a hole our bats couldn’t get out of.”
Craig had just one hit but it was a big one, as Jaycob Wolfe hammered one to left center for his first home run of the season.
On Thursday the Rockets celebrated “Senior Night” against Bland County and dropped a 13-5 decision in New Castle.
“Tough one to swallow,” said Mick. “It was our Senior Night where emotions were high and we came out with a lot of heart.”
Wolfe, a senior, started on the bump and pitched well until he had to be relieved on the mound due to arm soreness.
“Jaycob showed incredible heart by refusing to come out of his Senior Night and playing great in centerfield for the remainder of the game and doing his job at the plate,” said Mick. “From there we gave up eight walks and a couple errors which led to six more runs for Bland and dug us a hole.”
Craig’s bats came alive with seven hits, including two each by Luke Potter and Hunter Sowers. The Rockets also drew seven walks but left eight runners on base. Wolfe, Cam Huffman and Isaac Lucas also had hits and Huffman stole two bases. Potter had a double and Sowers drove in three runs for Craig.
“We started to rally late but the game got called early in the bottom of the sixth due to rain with two guys on base and no outs,” said Mick. “Bland was a winnable game. We got set back due to a couple pitching injuries causing guys to come out early, but still improvement since we got beat via mercy rule in March. The team is showing improvement and heart, we just have to keep getting better every day with max effort and we’ll get one of these wins coming up.”
The Rockets were scheduled to play at Giles Monday but that game was rained out and will not be made up. Bath is here today, Wednesday, and Friday the Rockets wrap up the regular season with a game at Parry McCluer on Charlie Manuel Field.
photos by Brian Hoffman
photos by Brian Hoffman
