HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College baseball program made history on Wednesday night in a 13-12 victory against Cleveland Community College, winning the 500th game in program history.
"I've been through a lot of blood sweat and tears with this program," said Red Hawk head baseball coach Marshall McDonald "I was there as a player on day one, I've been an assistant coach and now back as the head coach. This program is awesome and is nothing without (former head coaches) Paul Rozzelle and Frank Pait. They set the standard that we are trying to live by."
The historic 500th win for the Red Hawk baseball program wouldn't come easy against the Yetis in what proved to be a slugfest. Both teams scored at least one run during the first 4.5 innings of the contest.
Tied 5-5 through 2.5 innings, the Red Hawks gained control of the game with a four-run third inning that included an RBI single by catcher Gage Weaver, an RBI double by shortstop J.R. Dippold and an RBI ground out by center fielder Carter Lindsay.
Catawba Valley would eventually hold a 12-7 lead through four complete innings.
However, Cleveland rallied to tie the game behind four runs in the fifth inning on a two-run homer from Laz Santos Jr. and two-run double by Josh Morgan, and the tying run in the top of the eighth on a solo home run from Morgan.
Despite the late threat, the Red Hawks remained resilient at the plate in Wednesday's conference clash, scoring nine of their 13 runs with two outs, including the game-winning sac fly by second basemen Carter Starnes in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Red Hawk reliever Reid Withers earned his second win of the year in relief. Withers allowed four hits, one run, one walk and struck out two batters.
Ethan Young picked up his third save of the season by closing out the ninth inning. Young only allowed one hit, one walk and struck out two batters to seal the historic 500th win for Red Hawk baseball.
The Catawba Valley Community College baseball team returns to action this weekend for a three-game road conference series against Wake Tech.
The Red Hawks play a single nine-inning game on Friday at 5 p.m. at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs before finishing the series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.