Raiders continue undefeated season

Baseball season for the Blue Devils may be over with, but the Raiders from Erwin are just now getting warmed up for the season.
The Unicoi Raiders (3-0) continued their winning streak throughout the Greene County Adult Baseball League by taking care of the Rogersville Falcons, 2-0, on a sunny Thursday afternoon at Chuckey-Doak high school’s baseball field.
“It’s baseball; you never know what could happen,” head coach Andy Slagle said after the game. “Rogersville’s pitcher had us sized up and he threw real well out there. It was a close game for us, but our guys were able to work hard and come away with the win.”
The battle on the mound would be won by the Raiders ace, Boo Morrow (2-0), who only allowed three hits and sat down 14 Falcons on strikeouts while pitching a complete game.
“Boo had a huge day on the mound for us,” Slagle explained. “He’s came up big for us lately.”
The game welcomed back some players from last year’s squad, with Logan Rice and Mason Howell joining up with the team after ETSU’s baseball team wrapped up their season, along with Justin Bennett, who had been sidelined with a hand injury.
“Having those three in the lineup will help a lot throughout the season,” Slagle said.
Offense was a hard item to be found on the field in Afton with each team holding steady until Howell (1-3) came through with a sac RBI in the fourth to give the Raiders a quick 1-0 during the fourth inning stretch.
Bennett came back to the Raiders lineup with a walk and stolen base during the game. Rice was hit by pitch while up to bat and then after stealing a base, was pegged again by Rogersville’s pitcher.
“(Rice) did a great job running for us, but the poor guy had a target on his back,” Slagle said. “Both times were accidently, but he had a rough game out there.”
It isn’t a Raider’s game unless someone hits a home run, and that someone was the Raider’s slugger Ricky Morgan (1-2), who did the job by hitting homerun number three of the season, giving the Unicoi the go-ahead run to win the game.
“He’s hitting great,” Slagle said with a chuckle. “His slugging percentage is 1.875; that’s unheard of.”
The Raiders will be looking to continue the winning streak on Tuesday, June 7, against the Tri-Cities Diablos, with the first pitch to be scheduled at 6 p.m. at the Black Knight’s baseball field in Afton.