RCBL: D’backs, Bucks expect a ‘dogfight’

For the second straight year, the Clover Hill Bucks and Stuarts Draft Diamondbacks will meet in the Rockingham County Baseball League championship series.

The best-of-seven series begins today at Clover Hill. Last season, the Bucks defeated the Diamondbacks, marking the fifth time in six seasons that they have won the crown. The Bucks have also won the last four league pennants.

“I’m expecting a dogfight, that’s what I expect,” said Bucks manager Mike Martin. “I think it will be a hard, tough series for both teams. Both are playing well and have strong pitching staffs. It’s going to be a tough contest.”

Stuarts Draft, searching for its first championship in team history, finished second in the RCBL this year — falling out of a first-place tie after an uncharacteristic loss to New Market on the last day of the season.

“We aren’t going to be happy with just getting there, our goal is just to win it,” said Stuarts Draft manager Tinker Kiser.

After the Bucks lost their first game of the season to Draft, they won the next three meetings.

“They’re a great bunch of guys,” Kiser said. “We have a good rivalry going. We will try to knock each other out, but when it’s over we will shake hands. They have the older guys and the veterans and we have a bunch of young guys that want to knock them out.”

Martin said that the key for his team to earn their third straight championship was executing the fundamentals.

“I think the key to it is going to be who plays solid defense and who gets the extra outs that should have been hits,” he said.

Jake Rule is slated to get the start in Game 1 for Stuarts Draft, dueling with the Bucks’ Justin Wood. Once the series returns to Stuarts Draft on Thursday, Kiser plans to pitch league MVP Ryan Cooper. Martin will throw former Waynesboro High School standout James Lucas.

Kiser gives a lot of credit to his pitching staff for his team’s recent success in the league.

“We have been able to keep the arms pretty fresh,” he said. “I think having the depth in pitching has contributed to it.”

Clover Hill swept their semifinal series against Broadway and has been off the diamond since Saturday. Stuarts Draft finished up their series against Elkton on Monday, after it lost 10-4 on Sunday, forcing another game.

Martin said he isn’t putting too much emphasis on the importance of winning the first game in the finals.

“The first game in any series is always critical and you want to set the tone for the rest of the series, but in a seven-game series, the first game doesn’t guarantee anything,” Martin said. “It’s a tricky game, anything can happen based on a couple of inches.”

The series will take a break on Friday and will continue on Saturday at Clover Hill. All games begin at 7:30 p.m.