LEBANON, Va. - Doc Adams Field turned into a launching pad on Tuesday night.
"The ball was flying out of here tonight," Lebanon head coach Cody Compton said. "I don't know what it was, but they were flying."
"I am not sure if the wind was blowing or what, but the ball was hoping," added Lebanon leadoff batter Eli Breeding.Â
Breeding was happy to be part of it, bouncing back from a pair of early strikeouts to blast a two-run home run, the third for Lebanon and fifth over the first three innings in the Pioneers' 14-3 Southwest District home win over Richlands.Â
"Richlands was first in the district coming in so we knew we had to go through them and we have to go through everybody else in the district to get to 10-0, which is our goal for the year," Breeding said. "That is the goal, to come out on top and be first in the district."
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Compton was certainly pleased with what he saw from his Pioneers (6-5, 2-0), which sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the first inning, led by a solo home run by Chance Parker and a two-run shot from Jake Hilton.
That was plenty for junior hurler Nathan "Tater" Phillips, who scattered three hits, striking out 11, including the first six batters and the final five he faced in the game.Â
"That is a good ball team," Compton said. "We finally played to our ability today. I have wanted us to play like this for a while now and we finally put it all together, hitting, defense, pitching, it all came together today."
That was bad news for Richlands (8-3, 3-1), which came in leading the SWD standings, but the Pioneers jumped on King University commit Ben Hale for six runs on four hits and three walks in the opening inning to fall behind 6-0.
Breeding said the Pioneers were well-prepared to face Hale, calling him an "awesome player" who he has played with in the past.Â
"To get on him early was everything for us because we wanted to get him out," Breeding said. "We figured if we could get him off the mound we would be all right."
In addition to the first inning home runs by Parker and Hilton, the Pioneers also got a two-run triple by Noah Delp and an RBI single from Toby Baker, who reached base all four times at the plate.Â
"We showed up and played really good baseball today," Compton said. "We were focused in pregame and before the game hitting. We took a great approach at the plate today, we stayed within ourselves and we did exactly what we needed."
Lebanon, which finished with 12 hits, seven walks and three hit-batsmen from three pitchers, scored three runs in the third, keyed by Breeding's home run, his fourth of the season that came after a pair of strikeouts in the first inning.Â
"Baseball is a game of failure absolutely," Breeding said. "I just had to flush that and move on and it is the next AB always."Â
Lebanon added five more runs in the fourth, sending 10 more batters to the plate, with the key hits being a two-run triple by Dagan Barton and RBI singles from Breeding and Delp.Â
"We came in and I felt like we were ready to go. We had good energy and they got us right away," Richlands head coach Ben Brown said. "Parker smoked that ball to left and kind of shocked us a little bit. That was the first time Ben Hale has been hit like that this year.Â
"He [the umpire] had a tight zone back there, we weren't getting anything off the plate and got a little flustered. They put up that 6-spot, it was a little frustrating as the inning went on. We responded well there in the third and made it a game.
"Lebanon hit the ball tonight, they stroked it, they hit all kinds of gaps and knocked three out of here. It is hard to beat a team when they are swinging like that."
Richlands narrowed the margin in the third on a two-run home run by Caleb Ratliff, which followed a single from Max Herndon, and a solo shot by Earls. That was it against Phillips, a junior, who pitched Lebanon past Auburn in the Class 1 state championship game last season.Â
"That is exactly what we expect out of him," Compton said. "He usually keeps us fired up and in it the whole time. He threw the ball well today. He had the one inning where he got it up a little bit."
All nine batters reached base at least twice and scored at least a run apiece for the Pioneers. Delp, who batted sixth, had three RBIs, while the bottom three batters were on base six times, including the Hilton home run, scoring three runs and driving in three.Â
"There wasn't an easy out in that lineup tonight. They all battled, fouled off some really good pitches. They were really disciplined, taking pitches that were just off and found a way to put the ball in play," Brown said. "There were a couple of plays that we probably should have made, but we didn't take care of business and innings just got extended and Lebanon took advantage.
"Good teams will take advantage when they get the breaks and they did that tonight for sure."
Phillips was his usual dominant self, mixing a mid-80s fastball with breaking pitches in demonstrating the ability that has enabled him to already commit to play college baseball at Division I Mount St. Mary's.Â
"We knew coming in what he did last season, what he did in the state championship game, all these guys know him well. They have played ball with him for many years now, but we knew what we were going to see," Brown said. "We were ready for the velocity. We took some high velocity batting practice yesterday and we were ready for it.
"Speed wasn't what got us, but he is just so good with two strikes. He has got three or four pitches he can drop in there and he had his command all around the zone tonight and they got it done."
Lebanon has won state titles in two of the last three seasons, claiming the Class 2 crown in 2021 and Class 1 last year. Despite the loss of four key seniors of last year's club, Breeding is confident in the Pioneers ability to do it again.Â
"We are missing four starters, but I like it more because I can feel myself as more of a leader instead of kind of a role player," said Breeding, whose Pioneers' lone defeats have been to Tennessee High, Abingdon and Daniel Boone, three teams leading their respective conference races. "We miss those guys tremendously, but I feel like if we can fill those roles we can make another run at a state title."
Richlands 003 00 - 3 3 1Â
Lebanon 623 5x - 14 12 0Â
Hale, Hylton (3), McCracken (4) and Earls. Phillips and Warren. W-Phillips; L-Hale. HR-Parker (LB) 2nd, 0 on; Hilton (LB) 1st, 1 on; Ratliff (RL) 3rd, 1 on; Earls (RL) 3rd, 0 on; Breeding (LB) 3rd, 1 on.Â