The William Byrd baseball team has a jayvee-varsity doubleheader at Franklin County Friday before taking off for spring break. The jayvees will open the day at noon with the varsity to follow at approximately 2:30 pm, both at Ben Franklin Middle School.
Byrd will go to Rocky Mount with a 3-5 record after defeating Alleghany in Low Moor Tuesday, 4-2. Sophomore Bryce Boothe was just what the doctor ordered, pitching a complete game to pick up the win. Boothe struck out six and got out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh to nail down the victory.
The Terriers never trailed. They got on the board in the top of the first when Jay Trail drove in one run and Alleghany walked in another. However, the Terriers left the bases loaded.
“We score first most of the time, usually in the first inning,” said Byrd coach Neil Zimmerman. “But we have trouble keeping the momentum going. We need to be able to put teams away.”
The Terriers led 3-2 after five innings and scored a run in the top of the sixth to make it 4-2. Boothe was cruising along with a 79 pitch count after six, but he ran into trouble in the seventh as Alleghany loaded the bases. He managed to finish off the game on 105 pitches with Adam North warming up in the bullpen.
Mitch Lyle finished with two runs batted in for Byrd and Hunter Meador and Trail also had RBIs.
Last Friday at home Byrd dropped a 9-3 game to Northside on a cold and windy day. Gehrig Spradlin pitched four and two thirds innings, allowing four earned runs as he took the loss. Brendan Draughn pitched the final two and a third.
Again Byrd scored first, but the Terriers struggled to score after the first inning. Bryce Mullin and Grant Watson had two hits each and Watson drove in two runs.
Last Thursday in Roanoke Byrd took a 10-0 win over William Fleming in six innings. Josh Hilliard pitched five shutout innings for his first varsity win and Draughn pitched the sixth before the game was called due to the 10-run rule.
Watson, Caleb Carawan and Spradlin had two hits each for the Terriers against a much-improved Fleming team. The Colonels have been weak in recent years but they’ve been hanging tough this spring, going the full seven innings against some good programs.
Byrd will take a short break after Friday’s game at Rocky Mount, returning with back-to-back games against Hidden Valley over spring vacation. Byrd will host Hidden Valley for a jayvee-varsity doubleheader under the lights on April 21, then turn around and play at Hidden Valley for an afternoon doubleheader the next day, on Saturday April 22.
“That will be a good test to see how our pitching holds up,” said Zimmerman.