Baseball traveled to Petersburg, Virginia this past weekend to face off in a conference series against the Statesmen of Richard Bland College. The Trojans won all three games, heading back to North Carolina with a dominate series win.
The Trojans are currently 11-14 overall and 8-7 in conference play.
FTCC vs. Richard Bland:
Game One- 14-2, Win
The game started out with back and forth zeros until the Trojans got on the board in the third.
Jerremy Miller (Keystone Heights, FL) hit a lead off double to start the third inning and Dylan Vazquez (Bega Baja, PR) hit him around with a two-out double to get the Trojans on the board.
Three more runs were scored in the top of the fourth to give the Trojans a four run lead.
Toufic Khabie (Aventura, FL) hit a solo homerun to start the inning. Jordan Wright (Rocky Mount, NC) reached by an error before Miller hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to plate two more.
The Statesmen cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth when they scored two, but the Trojans responded by scoring three in the seventh.
Vazquez drew a walk before Khabie hit his second homerun of the game over the left field wall. Brantley Hayward (Plant City, FL) kept the rally going with a double and scored on a line drive single from Jackson Rainey (Eastover, NC).
The Trojans forced the run-rule scoring seven in the top of the eighth.
Phil Williams (Wilmington, NC) reached on an error and Vazquez walked. Eythan Reynolds (Pinehurst, NC) then singled to left to score both runners and touched home himself on Khabie’s third bomb of the game.
Hayward walked and Rainey singled before Miller hit a line drive to score one more. Isaiah Street (Charlotte, NC) was hit by pitch to load the bases and Williams doubled to score all three base runners.
Ricky Montalvo (Inman, SC) pitched all eight innings for the Trojans, striking out nine and giving up only three hits.
Game Two- 2-1, Win
The Trojans scored two runs in the first inning to get an early lead.
Williams was hit by pitch and Khabie singled. Xander Clark (Chicago, IL) hit a two out double to earn both RBIs.
The game turned into a pitcher’s duel until the Statemens were able to push one across in the sixth.
Jacob Chavis (Pembroke, NC) started on the bump and threw six innings for the Trojans, striking out six and giving up one run.
Jackson Sherron (Wendell, NC) came in as the closer to shut down the first three batters to earn the save.
Game Three- 4-1, Win
The Trojans again scored first with one run in the top of the first inning when Williams reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch.
Two more Trojan runners touched home plate in the fourth. Cole Feldman (Midlothian, VA) hit a one out double, Miller was hit by pitch and Koa Kloehs (Suwannee, GA) walked to load the bases. Kristian Scales (Madison, NC) grounded into a fielder’s choice for an RBI and Miller scored on a Statesmen error.
The Statesmen were able to get one run across in the fourth, but the Trojans were able to close out the game without giving up another run.
The fourth Trojan run was plated in the seventh on a sacrifice bunt by Clark to score Reynolds who singled earlier in the inning.
Israel Moore (Lakeville, MN) started on the bump throwing five inning to get the win with eight strikeouts. Reno Jeter (Asheville, NC) came on in relief to pitch the sixth and Chris Layton (Four Oaks, NC) closed out the final three innings striking out six of the nine batters he faced.
Baseball will head to play Rockingham tomorrow for a non-conference game at 2PM before returning home this weekend to host Southeastern-Whiteville for their next conference series. First pitch is set for noon on Saturday. All home games are played at JP Riddle Stadium: 2823 Legion Road and are $10 admission (free with FTCC ID or children 12 & under).
