Terriers have won three of their last four as Parrish doubles in a pair with two outs in the 7th to beat Franklin Co.

The William Byrd baseball team is scheduled to play Hidden Valley twice within 24 hours this weekend, weather permitting. Byrd will host Hidden Valley Friday night and play the Titans on their field Saturday afternoon.

At mid-week rain was predicted for the rest of the week, but Byrd coach Neil Zimmerman was hoping to get the games in. Friday’s action at Walthall Park in Vinton includes a junior varsity game at 5 pm with a varsity tilt to follow at approximately 7 pm. Then, on Saturday at Hidden Valley, the jayvees are scheduled for 11 am with the varsity game at approximately 1:30 pm.

Byrd has not played since April 14 as the Terriers took some time off for spring break. Their last action was a 2-0 win over Franklin County in Rocky Mount last Friday.

Matt Parrish, a little used senior, had the big blow for Byrd in the win at Franklin County. The game was locked in a scoreless tie after six innings when Byrd’s Jay Trail doubled with one out in the top of the seventh.

Mitch Lyle was up next, and he ripped a single to left that was hit too hard to score the speedy Trail. Gehrig Spradlin flew out to right for the second out, but again the fly was not deep enough to score Trail. That brought Parrish to the plate, and the lefty ripped an opposite field double to the leftfield ally as Trail scored from third and Lyle raced around the bases for a second run.

“It was a pretty exciting seventh inning for us,” said Byrd coach Neil Zimmerman. “We’ve looked better the last week with some renewed enthusiasm that had been lacking early on. When you get a couple big road wins under your belt you tend to find some confidence.”

The win lifted Byrd to 4-5 overall and the Terriers have won three of their last four, with all three wins coming on the road. Spradlin picked up the win on the mound with a complete game shutout. He scattered six hits and fanned seven while walking just two.

“He threw really well and had his change up working from the start, which makes his fastball and breaking ball much more difficult to hit,” said Zimmerman.

Byrd also turned two big 4-6-3 doubleplays, from Grant Watson to Hunter Meador to Macon Hale. Both were momentum killers for the Eagles.

The Terriers had just four hits, with three coming in the seventh inning. Prior to that Franklin’s Cameron Janney was working on a one-hitter, with Trail getting that hit.

“Our offense is starting to get some traction, even though we only had four hits,” said Zimmerman.  “We hit some balls hard and that’s all you can do. Hopefully they’ll quit finding the defenders’ gloves. I like the direction that we are heading.”

Next week Byrd will play three home games, with Rockbridge here Tuesday, William Fleming Wednesday and Franklin County on Friday, April 28, for a jayvee-varsity doubleheader.