Bucks win RCBL Championship series

Clover Hill – After six nail-biting games of high quality baseball, Game 7 of the Rockingham County Baseball League Championship Series was sloppy and largely anti-climatic as the Stuarts Draft Diamondbacks fell to the Clover Hill Bucks 7-1 at Buck Bowman Park.

A team that is going for its third straight league title and sixth in the last seven years doesn’t need any help, but that is exactly what the Diamondbacks gave them hitting into three rally-killing double plays, walking eleven batters, plunking two and falling asleep as two runners scored on one bases-loaded walk.

“We let one get away from us at home a couple of nights ago and tonight we just didn’t man up,” Diamondback manager Tinker Kiser said. “They just out-played us.”

League MVP and Stuarts Draft ace Ryan Cooper expressed his disappointment, but remained optimistic about the future. 

“It’s extremely frustrating being up 3-1 and letting this series slip through our fingers,”  he said. “Everybody’s sad, but we know that we will have another chance at these guys.”

After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second, Stuarts Draft starter Brandon Zollman struck out designated hitter Aaron Lough for the first out of fourth before hitting Dustin Bowman and walking Andrew Weaver. Chris Cofer then reached on an error to load the bases again.. Zollman struck out the next hitter Aaron Martin for the second out and looked as if he would find a way out of the inning unscathed, but lead-off man Drew Easter worked his way to a walk bringing in Dustin Bowman for the games first run. Christian Simmers drew another walk as ball four made it all the way to the back-stop bringing home Andrew Weaver as well as Chris Cofer, who scored via some heads up baserunning as catcher Wes Dimitt and Zollman talked while ignoring the ball as it laid some fifteen feet from home plate. Zollman regrouped and got Addison Bowman to fly out to Ryan Cooper to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Those three runs that all came without the Bucks recording a hit was all that Clover Hill starter John Sinclair needed. Sinclair pitched five two-thirds innings of scoreless ball inducing three double plays, two of which were inning-ending.

The Bucks tacked on two more in the fifth off of Chris Cofer’s two-out, two-run single off Draft reliever Jake Rule.

The Diamondbacks got their lone run in the sixth when Brandon Clark’s double brought home Jay Thompson who had reached on an infield hit.

The Bucks pushed the lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the eight when Stuarts Draft alum Shane Banks singled home Easter. Two batters later, Dustin Bowman’s sacrifice fly plated Addison Bowman.

Waynesboro high graduate James Lucas pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and struck out five, including the last two of the game to give the Bucks their third championship in a row.