Gaither rallies past Strawberry Crest, 5-3
By Bob Bellone, Senior Staff Writer
DOVER – Gaither checked into the guest dugout at Strawberry Crest more than a half-hour late Thursday. The Cowboys then spent much of the evening playing catch-up despite getting into the Chargers bullpen early.
The trip back to Tampa, however, was bound to be a joy ride for the visitors after coming from behind for their fifth consecutive victory, 5-3.
Crest starting pitcher Zach Redner recorded only two outs in the top of the first inning before he was replaced by fellow senior right-hander Luke Richardson.
Redner allowed only an unearned run, but the Cowboys stole three bases against him and filled the bags with an RBI single by Scout Simpson and a pair of walks.
Richardson erased the threat on a foul popout to batterymate Toby Highsmith, then pitched three scoreless innings before Gaither overcame a 3-1 deficit with three runs off him in the fifth.
The Chargers produced all their scoring in the bottom of the first off Steven Rojas, another senior right-hander and the eventual winning pitcher.
Eli Vickers led off with a single, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an Arjun Nimmala double. Akhil Nimmala followed with a single, delivering his brother with the go-ahead run. He later scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-1.
“I was a little bit nervous” Rojas said of the early moments. “After that. I relaxed, dropped my shoulders and felt within myself.”
Rojas gave up only one hit over the next five innings, finishing with six strikeouts and two walks. Anthony Linares finished off the string of scoreless innings, pitching the seventh to earn the save.
David Pina sparked the rally in the fifth for Gaither (10-5) with a leadoff double. After Simpson walked and Nico Lopez followed with a run-scoring single, Richardson was gone. So too was the lead for Strawberry Crest (8-6) after RBI singles by Miguel Pina and Paul Provencher off reliever Alex Philpott made it 4-3.
“I knew we were going to get it together,” said David Pina, who also singled and scored twice. “We’re finally getting rolling. We’re getting a lot of confidence now.”
Gaither coach Nelson North was particularly impressed with his players en route to their latest triumph, and he told them so.
“I was really happy about how even keeled they played. Never got high, never got too low, just kind of kept playing,” North said. “And that’s what we’ve been trying to do, try to be that team that just keeps playing as high-caliber baseball as we can.”
⚾⚾⚾⚾
Gaither 5, Strawberry Crest 3
G 100|031|0 – |5|8|1
S 300|000|0 – |3|5|2
W – Rojas (3-3); L – Richardson (2-1); S – Linares
2B – D. Pina, Lopez (G); Ar. Nimmala (S). Records – G (10-5); S (8-6).
