Raiders put on hitting clinic in win over Valwood
Published 10:02 am Wednesday, April 19, 2023
- Southland Academy catcher Will Godwin went 3 for 4 at the plate with three doubles and three RBIs in the Raiders’ 11-4 win over Valwood. Photo by Ken Gustafson
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AMERICUS – The Southland Academy Raiders (SAR) put on a hitting clinic in the bottom of the first inning, as they scored seven runs on seven hits en route to an 11-4 victory over Valwood on Tuesday, April 18, at the Southland Academy baseball complex.
Henry Johnson led off the frame with a double and Perry Usher followed with a single, but later on in the inning, Will Godwin and Camden Rodgers came up with back-to-back doubles to give the Raiders a 4-1 lead.
Later on in the inning, Luke Tarrer came up with an RBI single and Johnson followed with another double in the same inning, as SAR batted around and scored seven runs on seven hits.
The lead was more than enough for Chase Ledger, the Raiders’ ace on the mound, to work with. For a little over four innings, Ledger was his normal, dominant self. He gave up three runs on five hits and struck out seven Valiants.
Southland Academy starting pitcher Chase Ledger struck out seven Valwood batters over 4.2 innings of work to lead the Raiders to an 11-4 victory over Valwood.
Photo by Ken Gustafson
In the top of the third inning, the Valiants added another run on an RBI double from Conner Hutto, but the Raiders responded with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning by taking advantage of two walks and two errors, making the score 10-2 in favor of SAR.
The Valiants responded again with a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Matthew Kerrigan, but SAR countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Godwin notched another RBI double, scoring Perry Usher.
In the top of the sixth, Valwood was able to score one more run when Dywan Powell drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, but that would be as close as the Valiants would get, as the Raiders would go on to win by the score of 11-4.
Godwin had a tremendous day at the plate for SAR. He went 3 for 4 with three doubles and three RBIs. Both Henry Johnson and Perry Usher each had solid days at the plate as well. Johnson went 2 for 5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored and Usher went 2 for 4 with two singles and two runs scored.
Southland Academy infielder Henry Johnson is seen here scoring the Raiders’ first run of the game. Johnson led off the bottom of the first with a double and then drove in two runs on an RBI double later in the same inning.
Photo by Ken Gustafson
Usher also did well in relief of Ledger. In a little over an inning, he gave up a run on no hits with one strikeout. Luke Tarrer came on in relief of Usher and was solid over an inning of work. Tarrer pitched a scoreless inning, giving up only two hits.
The Raiders (11-7, 6-3 Region 3-AAA) will try to build on this victory when they travel down to Valdosta to face these same Valiants (14-9, 5-4 Region 3-AAA) on Friday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m.
