Draft slips by Clover Hill, takes 1-game lead

CLOVER HILL — Stingy defense and a strong outing by Jake Rule gave the Stuarts Draft Diamondbacks all the room they needed to take an early lead in the RCBL Championship Series.

Draft squeaked by Clover Hill 2-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The finals continue tonight at Stuarts Draft.

Rule pitched four hitless innings and allowed only two hits during his eight-inning stint on the mound. In the seventh he gave up Clover Hill’s only run of the game when Dustin Bowman ripped a shot over the fence.

“Going up against a team like this, you have to mix it up a lot, so I was trying to keep them off balance,” Rule said.

The former U.Va. player said that his defense gave him the confidence to pitch during the close game.

“This is the first game since I pitched in the ACC that I’ve gotten butterflies before the game,” Rule said. “I knew it was going to be a close game those guys are good and they play a high level of baseball.”

Both teams made several stellar defensive plays. In the first Draft right fielder Ben Wise made a diving catch at the wall to rob Christian Simmers of a certain double. In the fifth, the Bucks completed a unusual 7-6-3-2 double play after Draft’s Wes Dimitt tried to stretch out a double, only to get caught in a run down while Ryan Cooper attempted to sneak home. Jay Thompson did score on the odd play, putting Draft up 1-0.

“It was an awesome ball game between both teams there were probably 12 web gems,” said Draft manager Tinker Kiser. “Anyone who saw this game wouldn’t have seen a better Major League game anywhere.”

The Diamondbacks produced plenty of offense on Wednesday night, but couldn’t get runners across the plate. Draft finished the game with 10 hits.

In the seventh Brandon Clark sealed the game for Draft, hitting a booming home run to left field.

Kiser said that he doesn’t think the rest of the games in the series will be as low scoring.

“I don’t think there will be a lot of 2-1 games, but I hope there is. I like that,” he said.

Tonight the Bucks, who have won five of the last six RCBL championships, will have a shot at knotting up the series at the Diamond Club in Stuarts Draft. Cooper is slated to get the start on the mound for the Diamondbacks for tonight’s game. James Lucas will handle the pitching responsibilities for the Bucks.