WOODVILLE – The nest of the Woodville Eagles was visited by the Huntington Red Devils on Friday, April 24, for the last district game of the season.
#9, Luis Obregon, took the mound with purpose opening up the first inning with two consecutive strike outs to get the adrenaline going for the fans. When it was The Eagles' turn to bat, they managed to steal or walk a total of four bases, but were held back from putting up any points.
Obregon and his outfielders made short work of the top of the second inning, only letting four batters step to the plate. First to bat at the bottom of the second inning was #10, McCoy Tucker. He smashed the rock deep into center-field for an easy double, followed by a calculated bunt from #18, Hoyt Spurlock, that got both of them onto the next base.
Then #3, Ace Esway, pulled off a bunt-fake got him on base and advanced his teammate. Bryce Fowler followed all that up with a well-placed hit to load the bases. Gage Tolar, #7, smashed the ball behind first base and got the runner on third base home. The bulk of the game, after this point, was a battle of pitchers and outfielders. In the fifth inning, a small catcher error allowed a Devil to cross home plate. Not twice, though, as The Eagles pulled off a double play-by tag out- to end the top of the fifth.
The Red Devils, however, answered with their own double play to end the fifth. To open the sixth inning, Woodville decided to switch pitchers to #15, Chase Wilburn. However, he and Spurlock caused a few errors which allowed two Devils to make it across home plate. After changing pitchers to #14, Ry Moses, the inning ended with a quickly executed reaction to a foul ball that went behind Spurlock, catcher, but he managed to grab for the third out. The Eagles managed to utilize great teamwork to get the bases loaded, with haste, and an error on the visitors’ catcher allowed one of Woodville's Eagles to fly home. The seventh inning was where things started to fray.
The Red Devils launched several balls deep into the outfield which allowed both runners to cross the plate. Before the end of the game, Woodville gave #16, Colton Armstrong, the ability to pitch. With a 10-3 loss, the Eagles ended their district season. However, they will be on their way to the playoffs.
At the end of the game, the parents of the senior players were asked to move onto the field as they watched their children run the bases for, what could be, their last time to run those bases as an Eagle.
