The Patrick County Cougars, behind a dominant pitching performance by Stuart Callahan, won their season opener against the Dan River Wildcats, 5-0 on March 11th.
Senior Stuart Callahan pitched six innings without giving up a hit, striking out 15 Wildcats while walking only two. “Outstanding,” said Cougar head coach, Tal Swails. “That was exactly what we expected. He’s capable of doing that every time he toe’s it up.”
It was Callahan who got the Cougars going offensively in the second inning. Following a walk, he stole second, getting into scoring position for Jackson Horton, who ripped the ball into center field for a stand-up double, scoring Callahan. An Easton Harris single moved Horton to third and an Erik Martinez-Tejada bunt got him home, giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead after two.
Tucker Swails got on base in the third after being hit by a pitch and promptly made the Wildcats pay for the mistake. He stole second, then third, scoring after the throw got away from the Wildcat third baseman.
Leading 3-0 heading into the fourth inning, the Cougars added to their lead. Gavin Fain reached second on a stand-up double and was driven in by a Tucker Swails single down the third base line, for a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Calvin Lancaster smacked a double to lead off. Next up, Easton Harris beat out the throw to first on an infield hit, moving Lancaster to third. Martinez-Tejada hit a line-drive to the second baseman, but a Wildcat throwing error allowed Lancaster to score, upping the Cougar lead to 5-0 through six.
The Cougars sent out Tucker Swails to finish out the game in relief of Callahan, who had thrown 96 pitches in his six innings of work. Swails gave up a hit and a base on balls, but settled in, striking out three to seal the win for the Cougars.
For Coach Tal Swails, taking out Callahan was necessary, given the number of pitches he threw. “It’s so early in the season, I almost pulled him the inning before, but he was still pretty good and hadn’t gotten up in the zone, so I gave him one more, but it was time.”
At the plate and on the bases, the Cougars showed their ability to manufacture runs by getting on and either stealing bases or letting the hitters move them into scoring position.
Coach Swails said, “we had to. We’re not swinging the bats, it’s early in the season. Our sticks are a little behind and that’s normal this time of the year, so sometimes you have to manufacture runs. We’ve got speed. We can run. If we can be better bunters, we can manufacture a whole lot more.”
Leading the way for the Cougars was Tucker Swails, going 1-2 at the plate with an RBI, two stolen bases and a run scored. Jackson Horton went 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Gavin Fain and Calvin Lancaster both went 1-3 with a run scored and Easton Harris was 1-3 with a stolen base.
Coach Swails was pleased with his team’s performance on the night. “I’m very happy. We did a lot of things well. It was a good game for us. To come out and win, to throw a shutout, and score some runs on opening night, that’s all we can ask for.”
