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BRISTOL, Va. – The kiddie corps came through when it mattered most.
A trio of freshman made key plays in the final two innings to lift John Battle to a season-opening 4-2 win over Virginia High on a cold, windy and even rainy Friday night at Battle Field.
“ They did well. I have known them for a long time so it is kind of nice to watch them grow up,” said John Battle coach Jimmy Gobble, who has been working with the freshman trio of Porter Gobble, Evan Hankins and Elijah Childress for most of a decade. “They have still got a lot of growing to do, there is still a whole lot of youth in this team.”
Virginia High (1-2) senior pitcher Isaac Berry had retired 13 straight batters, hadn’t allowed a hit and his Bearcats led 2-1 before Porter Gobble led off the bottom of the sixth with the walk.
“ I was thinking just keep my hands through the ball, try to foul anything off and wait for him to make a mistake,” Porter said.
Jon-Alan Richardson followed by getting hit by a pitch – the sixth between the teams in the game – and one out later, Childress punched a single into left field to tie the score at 2-2. John Battle (1-0) would add two runs on a wild pitch two batters later and Hankins went on to earn the save on the mound.
“ That was a big inning for us,” said Porter Gobble, who picked up the win as the third of four John Battle pitchers. “It was a great game all around. Evan just showed out at the end and Elijah came in with a big hit.”
It was a heartbreaking ending for Virginia High, which had just 10 players suited up for the game, with four out with injuries. The Bearcats tied the score at 1-1 in the third on a bases-loaded ground ball that followed a single by Ty Weaver, and took the lead in the fifth on a double by Brody Jones and a single from Berry.
“ Isaac did a great job all night long. Free baseball, leadoff walk there and then hit the next guy and you kind of put yourselves in that position,” Virginia High coach Mark Daniels said. “We had one out there, a routine double play ball that we let go into the outfield there and that kind of opened the floodgates. We are a young team right now and it kind of gets exposed sometimes.”
Hankins, who recently committed to play his college baseball at Tennessee, faced five batters in the seventh, striking out four – one reached on a passed ball – and allowed a walk, but was able to strand two runners on base. Virginia High out-hit the Trojans 3-1, but also struck out 13 times.
“ We just didn’t make some plays that we should have made in that [sixth] inning,” Daniels said. “You have to tip your hat to their pitching staff. I think we struck out [13] times, you aren’t going to win many games doing that…
“ Hats off to Isaac Berry, he kept us in the game and pitched his tail off. I am proud of him. We played good defense behind him, but we have got to do something to fix our approaches at the plate.”
John Battle, which scored an unearned run in the first, struggled to get baserunners for much of the game against Berry, who struck out eight and walked just two, both in the sixth.
“ He pitched a great game. I think he struck out eight of our guys and we are a pretty solid team overall,” Jimmy Gobble said. “[Virginia High] has got something, they really do so it should be interesting to see how it plays out throughout the course of the year.”
While Gobble has mostly allowed others to coach his sons on the diamond, the seven-year major leaguer certainly enjoyed seeing his trio of freshman get their first taste of high school baseball.
“ I have not coached my kids very much,” Gobble said. “I try to stay in my lane with him, but all in all, it is nice to have a lot of kids that you coached when they were little as they were coming through. That part I am going to definitely cherish because you kind of feel like most of them are yours anyway.
“ This is a great group of kids. Honestly, they have been doing a lot and they work really well together.”
Porter is excited for the opportunity to learn from his dad.
“ I just try to have fun,” Porter said. “He doesn’t treat me like his kid on the field, he tries to treat me like any of the other players and just keep it smooth throughout. It is really fun to play for Battle and playing for him. I think he is great coach, he has helped me a lot.”
bwoodson@bristolnews.com | Twitter: BHCWoodson | (276) 645-2543
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