Mustangs go perfect in SHL
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For the first time since 1996, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are perfect in the Southern Hills League, wrapping up the regular season with wins over the Peebles Indians and North Adams Green Devils.
On Monday, the Mustangs (17-2, 13-0) earned the perfect mark with a 12-0 shutout win over the North Adams Green Devils. This is the fifth time in school history the Mustangs have went perfect in the SHL.
Last week, LC defeated the Green Devils 13-0 at LCHS.
On the mound, the Mustangs allowed just one hit behind a stellar pitching performance by Cody Roush. Roush, who is 5-0, pitched all five innings, allowing just one hit and two walks. He struck out eight batters.
In the game that was switched to Monday, LC began with a three-run first inning.
Dalton Cox, Austin Fawley and Cody Roush all hit singles to start the inning, loading the bases. Ray Doss smacked a sacrifice fly, allowing Cox to score. Ryan Doss hit a two-run single to plate Fawley and Roush.
The Mustangs added five runs in the third.
In the inning Fawley and Roush singled. Ray Doss reached on an error, allowing Fawley to score. Ryan Doss singled to plate Roush. Dallas Puckett followed with a single, and Wes Pierson hit a second sacrifice fly to score Ray Doss. Brad Barger batted a two-run double to score Ray Doss and Puckett for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
In the fourth, Roush singled and scored on a two-run home run by Ray Doss. Last week, against the same Green Devils, Ray Doss hit a three-run home run to end the game.
The fifth and what turned into the final inning saw the Mustangs score its final two runs.
Dakota Dye started with a single, followed with a walk by Cox. Darren Harp followed with a base hit. Dye scored on a sacrifice fly by Roush and Ryan Doss scored Cox with an RBI single.
The perfect SHL season is a first for LC head coach Aric Fiscus. In 2006, LC went 12-1 in the SHL.
"A year before I took over, the team went undefeated in the league," Fiscus said. "We have won league titles since then, so that shows how hard it is to go perfect in this league.
"This is a real testament of how these guys play, and they get the business done. They have been focused this season. Our guys were very intent on not repeating last season."
On Saturday, LC defeated the Peebles Indians 16-1 in five innings.
Ryan Doss (5-0) was the winning pitcher for the Mustangs, allowing one hit and one run (none earned). He walked one and struck out 10 batters in five innings.
LC scored runs in the first three innings, plating seven in both the first and third innings, along with two in the second.
In the seven-run first, Cox doubled and Kris Moberly hit a two-run single. Batters one through seven scored, including: Cox, Fawley, Roush, Ray Doss, Ryan Doss, Puckett and Pierson. LC had four batters walked (Roush, Ryan Doss, Pierson and Cox during his second at-bat of the inning), and one batter reached via error.
In the second, Ray Doss singled, followed with a base hit by Puckett.
Ray Doss took second on a passed ball and scored on the aforementioned single by Puckett. Puckett stole second and scored on a base hit by Moberly.
In the third, Fawley led off with a triple. Fawley scored on a RBI single by Ray Doss. Ryan Doss doubled in Ray Doss. Three players were hit by pitches in the third (Moberly, Dye and Cox) and Fawley had a two-run single in his second at-bat in the third.
Scoring runs in the third were: Cox, Fawley, Ray Doss, Ryan Doss, Pierson, Moberly and Dye.
LC finished the game with 12 hits.
"Both Cody and Ryan done a tremendous job pitching in the past two games," Fiscus said. "They are different style pitchers but have a presence on the mound."
LC will play again Friday, in a Division III Sectional final, as they will host the winner of Huntington and Northwest, at 5 p.m.
[[In-content Ad]]