Cougars hold off late rally to take down Cadets

ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor

After a hot start with seven runs in just two innings, it looked liked the Collegiate Cougars were well on their way to a score that’d soon get out of hand when they traveled to take on the Benedictine Cadets at Hyman Bros. Field on March 17.

Behind the pitching prowess of Hayden Rollison and the connected, on-target execution of the defense behind him, the Cougars were earning runs just as easily as they were preventing them against a Cadets squad that came into the VISAA matchup riding momentum after a win over Miller School of Albemarle days prior.

After three scoreless innings on both sides, the Cadets offense awoke late to capture two sixth inning runs to cut the deficit down to 7-4, making things very interesting once their defense did its part to give them an opportunity to tie or win in the seventh frame.

With hitting momentum and a leadoff double from Terrence Rhodes on a left field fly ball, it was looking like the home team might just pull off the unlikely after trailing for the entirety of the game. After allowing that double, the defense locked in and finished the job with outs on the next three batters, closing the book on a thrilling earlyseason matchup and giving the Cougars their third straight win.

While Rollison delivered a four-strikeout performance in six innings while allowing just six hits, the offense connected on five hits that resulted in six RBIs. Junior Hartley Rahman had perhaps the best batting performance of the day for Collegiate, opening his day with a single and scoring in the first inning after stealing third off a wild pitch and making it home off a Rollison sacrifice fly for an early 2-0 Cougars lead.

His day just got better though, when in the top of the second, he smashed a line drive double to right field that scored in two runners to extend the lead to 5-0. That second inning run was a big one for Collegiate, who bumped the lead up to seven when a bases loaded walk got senior Hank Shield home and an RBI single from junior Will Slater got Rahman a run.

With the game quickly getting out of hand, the Cadets caught a huge break thanks to a thunderous swing toward the deep left field fence from Samuel Kaczmarek that resulted in a two-run home run to cut the Cougars lead to 7-2 early in the game.

The Cadets got strong pro - duction from its pitching crew to keep the Collegiate score to seven, with Daniel Lingle earning the start, Elijah Coston pitching three innings and Ryan Sellers closing out the game. During the innings-long drought, Coston was excellent on the rubber, allowing a single hit and striking out a team-high three batters during his appearance.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Cadets gave themselves a chance to get back in the game with runs on consecutive at-bats. The first came on an RBI single from Ethan Loucks on a line drive down right field where he ultimately made it to third off a costly Cougars error that scored in Collin Clarkson.

Immediately after, Kaczmarek made another huge play for Benedictine, connecting on the first pitch thrown his way with a line drive single that got Loucks home and made it a 7-4 score.

The defense stepped up and got three quick outs at the top of the seventh, including a brilliantly executed double play where Loucks scooped up a grounder at third, delivered a pass to Clarkson at second, who then finished the job by throwing the batter out at first to Riley Roarty.

After Rhodes’ double started things off strong for the Cadets in their last shot to claim the lead, the Cougars finished the job with three straight outs, two on grounders thrown out at first and the third a pop out on a hit from Jorden Olivera.

The Cougars will look to continue their winning ways with an upcoming Saturday doubleheader against Cape Henry Collegiate and Norfolk Academy for the RVA Challenge on March 25. The Cadets will face off against the Walsingham Academy Trojans at home on Wednesday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m.