HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College baseball team split its final regular season midweek games of 2019 with Bodyshop Baseball on Wednesday afternoon at Henkel-Alley Field.

The Red Hawks record now stands at 31-19 overall on the season.

Game one: Catawba Valley 15, Bodyshop 0 (five innings)

Scoring in every inning and pounding out 11 hits, the Red Hawks earned a run-rule victory during the opening game of the set on Wednesday.

Left fielder Jackson Brown led the charge for Catawba Valley, tallying three hits, including a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning — part of a nine-run scoring output during the stanza.

Center fielder Rod Munoz drove three RBIs for CVCC, while first baseman Tyler Campbell and shortstop Mason Lyda added two RBIs each.

On the mound, Red Hawks starting pitcher Trae Starnes earned his third win of the season. He allowed three hits, one walk and struck out three batters in three innings of work.

Relief pitchers Chris Banks and Austin Blevins closed out the final two innings for Catawba Valley, preserving the run-rule win.

Blevins' strikeout to end the contest was the 500th strikeout for the Red Hawks pitching staff — adding to their new school record broken this past weekend.

Game two: Bodyshop 6, Catawba Valley 3

The Blacksmiths scored five runs in the final two innings to stun the Red Hawks during the finale on Wednesday at Henkel-Alley Field.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning on an RBI ground out by the Blacksmith's Billy Amick, CVCC gained control Wednesday's nightcap with two big hits — an RBI single to right field by designated hitter Trent Jones in the second inning and a two-run home run by second baseman R.J. Conner during the third inning.

Bodyshop rallied late, though, tying the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning with a two-out double by Kody Trujillo and an RBI single by Ryan Ouzts.

The Blacksmiths once against capitalized on Red Hawk relievers during the seventh inning, scoring the eventual game-winning runs on a two-run single by Amick, who also came across home plate for an insurance run on a wild pitch during the inning.

The Red Hawks attempted to come back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases on Bodyshop reliever Thomas Harmon. However, a pop up at home plate ended the contest.


The CVCC baseball team completes its regular season this weekend with a conference series at home against Fayetteville Tech.

The Red Hawks and Trojans play one nine-inning and one seven-inning contest at Saturday starting at 1 p.m. before finishing the series on Sunday with a single nine-inning game starting at noon.