PV completes sweep

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: March 24, 2016

Raiders come from behind to win in both games of doubleheader, run their winning streak to four games

Dakota Jones reaches back to make a play early in the game. Jones was involved in six of the first seven outs Pleasant Valley got in the game. (Photo by Krista Walker)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – Dakota Jones has given Pleasant Valley baseball coach Darren Hamby a few grey hairs over the years with his aggressive running on the base paths, but Wednesday afternoon it brought the Raiders a valuable win.

Jones parlayed a leadoff walk in the sixth inning into the go-ahead run in a four-run outburst that lifted PV to an 8-6 are win over Weaver. The Raiders completed a sweep of the doubleheader and the three-game Class 3A Area 12 series by coming from behind again to win the nightcap 8-4.

Now, depending on what happens when Piedmont and Wellborn resume their series, the Raiders could head into spring break either with the early lead in the area or a share of it with Piedmont.

“That was our goal, to come out and be 2-0 after our first two (area) games,” Hamby said. “I thought the Weaver series and Wellborn series could go either way and it was just whoever got the lucky bounce or played the best ball.”

Jones’ savvy base running helped break a 4-4 tie without the Raiders (6-9) needing to get a hit. He walked, stole second when Weaver left-hander Drake Monroe wasn’t looking, streaked to third on a wild pitch and raced home when another offering got away.

“He is a daredevil on the base paths, that’s for sure,” Hamby said. “He puts more white hairs on my head. I’ve tried to tone him back a little bit and he has toned back a little bit, but he is a really good base runner, real aggressive.”

It’s almost as if there is no first base when Jones, gets on.

“I just did it for my team, to get something started,” Jones said. “Pretty much you’ve gotta have fun. This is a sport I love, so … I’m going to have fun.”

The Raiders didn’t stop after Jones scored. They added three more runs on Elijah Borders’ RBI triple, Nick Howard’s run-scoring single and Caden McCurdy’s RBI double. They tied the game an inning earlier on Mitchell Bonds’ two-out, two-run single.

Until that point Weaver’s Monroe was dealing. He had not given up a hit in the first three innings and only one through four. The Raiders put their first four runners on in the fifth and Monroe nearly got out of that jam with one run scoring, too, before Bonds delivered.

The Bearcats broke a 1-1 tie with three in the fifth. Cody Oritz ripped a two-run single that got through to the fence and Josh Langley’s RBI single.

In the nightcap, Nick Howard’s two-run single in the third capped a three-run inning that put PV ahead for good. Howard and Elijah Borders each had two hits in the game. Eighth-grade right-hander Brody Phillips pitched four innings of one-hit shutout relief to earn his second victory of the week.