PHOTO BY BRIIAN HOFFMAN
The Salem High baseball team is 14-6 after an 8-0 shutout win over Pulaski County at Calfee Field in Pulaski Tuesday. The Spartans are 9-2 in the River Ridge District with one game remaining and are looking at a chance to be River Ridge District champions or co-champions.
Salem’s remaining River Ridge District game is on Friday at Patrick Henry, a team the Spartans should beat. Salem is neck-and-neck with Hidden Valley and Blacksburg for the top spot in the RRD but Hidden Valley had several games still to play at press time. The district was originally scheduled to play a championship game between the top two teams this Friday but due to postponements and makeups that was cancelled and the top team in the regular season will be declared champion.
Trace Monroe pitched a complete game shutout for Tuesday’s win, improving his record to 5-0. He struck out six and scattered six hits. Monroe, Brayden White and Thomas Millard had two hits each.
The Spartans’ game with Pulaski on Tuesday was their first since May 14 when they hosted Christiansburg on Billy Sample field and took a 6-3 win. The Blue Demons took an early lead on a home run to right but Salem starting pitcher Monroe settled down and completed six innings, striking out 10 and walking four. He only surrendered three hits after the home run and picked up the win.
The Spartans didn’t trail for long, taking the lead in the bottom of the first when they loaded the bases with no outs. Ben Keffer hit a sacrifice fly to center, Mason Hale drove in a run on a single to left field and Millard pushed a third run across on a ground ball to third.
White drove in Keegan Craighead on a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Mason Brown singled up the middle to score Millard in the third for a 5-1 lead. Salem made it 6-1 in the fifth when Hale tripled and Poff followed with a double. Christiansburg scored two runs in the seventh but Carter Black was able to close it out for the district win.
The Region 4D baseball tournament is scheduled to begin next week but matchups were yet to be determined at press time. The Spartans were hoping to have a home game to open the region depending on this week’s results.
