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By MIKE
BARBER CLOVER HILL— Elkton made winning the Rockingham County Baseball League championship look easy Tuesday night. It wasn’t. The Blue Sox, who fought back from a 3-0 deficit in the series, stomped the Bucks 14-1 in front of 625 fans at Buck Bowman Park to capture the team’s first RCBL crown since 1939. "It was a long road back," Elkton manager Mike Burtner said. "Obviously, when you get down 3-0, it doesn’t look good. The guys are a laid-back bunch. They love being at the park and playing." Winning doesn’t hurt, either. The Blue Sox jumped all over Clover Hill starter Justin Hill. Catcher Kevin Haney hit a two-run home run in the first inning. In the second, Kirk Knight drove in a run and then scored on an error. "We got a couple of big hits and everything started to flow," Knight said. The flow turned to a tidal wave in an eight-run sixth that put the game and the series away. Clover Hill had its chance to get back into the game, but an unlikely hero emerged in right field for the Blue Sox. Burtner, who saw only limited action during the season, started all seven games in the finals for Elkton. In the fifth inning, with two outs and two on, Clover Hill’s Christian Simmers drove a pitch from Andy Cave in the gap in right for what should have been a two-run double. But Burtner made a diving catch to end the frame. Then, in the sixth, he did it again. Bucks second baseman Chris Cofer drove a ball into the same gap for what also should have been a two-run double. Instead, Burtner made a second improbable diving catch. "That’s just a tribute to that whole team," Clover Hill manager Steve Lough said. "They rise to the occasion." Those two stops killed the Bucks’ only scoring threats against Cave. Cave pitched a complete game and didn’t allow a run until the sixth, when Todd Campbell hit a solo home run. Cave held the Bucks to only four hits. "I thought it was going to be a lot closer," Cave said. "But our team is real laid-back. We try not too put too much pressure on ourselves." Clover Hill appeared tense prior to the game, a fact not lost on Lough. His Bucks, he said, were much looser while taking the first three games. "I felt an aura of confidence that helped us through our first three games," Lough said. "We just stopped being aggressive at the plate. They scored runs because they swung the bat." Both rosters were somewhat depleted because most of their high school and college players had left the teams to return to classes. Elkton 202 008 101 – 14 15 0 Clover Hill 000 001 000 – 1 4 5 Cave and Haney; Hill, Yoder (6), Morris (6), Cofer (7) and Bowman. W- Cave. L- Hill. HR- E- Haney, Knight. CH- Campbell. | |
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