🍀 Divisional Game -- Oak City Gliders @ Reidsville Luckies 🍀
Two big innings ruin an otherwise impressive game for the Luckies
REIDSVILLE, NC — The Reidsville Luckies crawled back into the game after going down 7-2, but weren’t able to keep the score anywhere near the tie, as the Oak City Gliders brought in five runs in the ninth to win, 12-7.
In the first three innings, everything was under control. The Luckies held Oak City off of the board completely, and both Travis Hammond and Edwin Bowman IV gave the Luckies a two-run lead.
It went downhill for Lucky City in the top of the fourth inning. Raleigh’s offense was otherworldly, as seven of their batters would come home, as they made it through their entire lineup. Thankfully, Reidsville had some fight, and would also make it through their entire lineup in their portion of the fourth. TJ Highsmith, Hammond, Andrews Opata, and Bowman IV cut the deficit to just one after four innings.
It was relatively quiet for the next few innings. There were only three combined hits for the teams in the next three innings. However, Highsmith would tie things up in the eighth with a leadoff solo homer over the right wall, his first home run in that vicinity all year.
After two quick outs in the top of the ninth, the Gliders caught a wave of momentum. The man on base, and their next four batters, would eventually step on home plate, giving them a five run lead. Kristian Amaro, Luke Roberts, and Gavin Fleming were retired one, two, three, thwarting Reidsville’s attempt to sweep the Gliders on the season.
Lucky of the Game: Kristian Amaro — Amaro went three for five, with a single and a pair of doubles, to lead the team in hitting.
Moment of the Game: Travis Hammond leaps into the sky to rob Oak City of a two-run homer — A nearly impossible play was made by Hammond in left field, where he kept the deficit from getting out of hand. Post-game, I asked him how he was able to manage making that insane catch.
Notes — Gavin Fleming was back in the lineup. Awesome. The Luckies allowed eight stolen bases. Terrible. You can’t allow eight stolen bases and expect to win.
The Luckies are still in third place in the division, but just barely. They really need to pick things up as we head into July.
Sadly, tonight was the last night that Edwin Bowman IV and Andrews Opata will be donning the tan, red, and green. It hurts even worse when you look at the stats. Opata boasted an insane .477 average, along with a 1.237 on base plus slugging percentage. In sixteen games, he had two homers, two triples, six doubles, twenty runs scored, and seventeen RBIs. Bowman IV also had wild numbers, with a .327, a .955 OPS., a homer, a triple, six doubles, ten runs, and ten RBIs.
Farewell to Opata and Bowman IV.
On-Deck — Four divisional games. Four. And if those are wins, the Luckies will almost certainly leap into a playoff spot. Reidsville has away games on Thursday and Friday, up against the Sanford Spinners and the High Point Hushpuppies. They then face the Hushpuppies at home on Saturday, before taking on the Sandhills Bogeys on Sunday.