VA/DC Scout Blog: Patriot at Battlefield 5/14
May 18, 2021
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Friday night saw a Cedar Run District showdown between No. 8 Patriot and No. 6 Battlefield. The Bobcats sent senior RHP Jackson Baird (George Mason) to the mound for the start and the Pioneers tabbed sophomore lefty Brennen Card for the start.
Both pitchers were in control early, matching zeroes in the first two innings. Patriot opened the scoring in the top of the third when, after a pair of walks, Kyle Vandenburg delivered an RBI single down the leftfield line to open an early 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats wasted no time answering in the bottom of the third. Blagen Pado worked a two-out walk, and then Baird and Adam Kuzmicki (Stony Brook) delivered back to back triples to deep left to give Battlefield a 2-1 lead. The Bobcats added a third run later in the inning on a Blake Harris single to right-center.
Baird tossed a scoreless fourth and fifth, working around some walks in the fifth inning, his final one of the evening. He finished with 11 strikeouts, and had 10 strikeouts in the first three innings. The Bobcats were able to extend the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth as Card's relief had some control issues and combined to walk five batters in the sixth inning. Patriot was able to mount a bit of a rally in the seventh against Battlefield reliever, Jack Robinson, ultimately getting the tying run to the plate, but Robinson shut it down and sealed a 5-2 victory.
For Battlefield, Baird was the winning pitcher, going 5 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 11 K, 5 BB while going 1-2 with a 3B, BB, and RBI at the plate. Robinson went 2 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 K, 2 BB in relief. For the Pioneers, Card threw well but ultimately took the loss, going 4.1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 4 K, 3 BB.