The Savannah Christian Raiders opened their season with an emphatic 14-5 win over Islands. The Raiders scored in every inning that they swung the bat in, including four runs in both the third and the fourth inning and three in the fifth.
“It’s always good to start the season off with a win,” said Raiders’ Head Coach Matt Oglesby. “We swung the bat pretty well, and we did a good job limiting our strikeouts, which is something we’ve been working on from the beginning of the preseason.”
Savannah Christian got out to a 10-1 lead through four innings before Islands answered with four runs of their own in the top of the fifth, all scoring before an out was recorded in the inning. The Raiders limited damage in the top half by striking out three of the last four batters. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, the Raiders shut the door on any chance of a comeback with three more runs of their own to bump the lead back up to eight.
“It’s just part of the game, you know, you punch them, they punch back,” Oglesby said. “You gotta stay in the fight. I think that was a sign that we have some pretty good leaders right now that they would give up a four spot, and it was nothing to come back and land one of our own.”
Savannah Christian was propelled by a stellar performance by senior Harding Dennis, who started on the mound for the Raiders before switching to first base. Dennis gave the Raiders two innings of one-hit ball on the mound and reached base all five times at the dish with a single, a double, two walks, and reaching on an error—the senior notched two RBIs and scored two more runs of his own.
Junior Brody Schuman was another important two-way contributor. On the mound, Schuman shut the door on the big fifth-inning push by Islands. He also had a big day at the plate, going 3-3 with a walk, two singles, and a triple.
The Raiders’ next game is at home this Friday against East Forsyth.
Photo Credit: Courtesy proshot_media
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