HAMPTON, VA. – Freshman Chris Aldridge went 3-for-5, while four other Builders had a pair of hits apiece as the Apprentice School continued its offensive spurt with a 12-2 win over Virginia Wesleyan College on Thursday night at War Memorial Stadium.
This was the first win over the Marlins since a 7-4 win on Mar. 22, 1996 at the Chowan College Tournament.
The Builders jumped on starter Jarrett Hagwood for three runs in the first inning Josh Tuck walked and advanced on a Ryan Wagner single. Chris Kennedy followed with a RBI double to score Tuck, while Wagner and Kennedy later scored on a double from Aldridge for an early 3-0 advantage.
Another three runs were put up by the hosts in the third as Andrew Hooper hit a sacrifice fly to score Chris Perry who started the inning with a single. Andrew Yonta then followed with a double to left to score Lake and Aldridge who had walked and singled respectively to lead 6-0. The Builders put another pair of runs across in the fourth on a two-run single by Hooper to score Kennedy and Wagner to take a 8-0 lead.
Sophomore Ethan Halberg held the Marlins in check for seven innings allowing four hits, one run and striking out six. The run came in the top of the seventh on a RBI single from Tom Caskey to score Buddy Lawson who drew a one-out walk.
Apprentice School responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh as Tuck ripped a RBI double down the right field line to score Yonta who had singled and Wagner followed with a single up the middle to score Tuck to lead 10-1.
The Marlins scratched another run in the eighth as Josh Hathaway tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Steve Jones. In the home half of the eighth, the Builders scored another pair of runs courtesy of a wild pitch and a balk.
Joining Aldridge in the multi-hit ranks on Thursday were Tuck (2-for-4/two runs scored), Wagner (2-for-2/two runs scored), Kennedy (2-for-5/two runs scored) and Yonta (2-for-5/two RBI). Hooper drove in a game-high three runs with his double and sacrifice fly.
Wagner did break a school record on Thursday being hit by a pitch twice in the game to raise his season total to a school-best 19 times he's been hit by a pitch this year. Tuck held the record being hit 18 times last season.
The Builders (20-12) are now off until Monday when they host Thomas Nelson CC in a 4 pm start at War Memorial Stadium.
SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR BASEBALL
A couple of schedule adjustments were announced on Thursday for the baseball team. The April 27 doubleheader with Danville CC will now start at 1 pm instead of noon. The April 22 single game with Rappahannock CC will now be played on April 28 at 6 pm. That game will be Senior Night for the Builders.