Catawba Valley Community College infielder R.J. Conner, a sophomore from Statesville, makes a play during Saturday’s doubleheader sweep by the Red Hawks in Virginia Beach, Va./CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
Red Hawks catcher Gordon picks up national award
HobbsDailyReport.com
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) goes for its seventh straight baseball win on Sunday after sweeping a key doubleheader on Saturday over Bryant & Stratton on the road.
CVCC SCHEDULE: http://gocvcc.com/sports/bsb/2018-19/schedule
The Red Hawks (16-8, 6-4 Region X) won 8-0 and seven innings and 16-2 in five innings on Saturday to run their win streak to six games.
Bryant & Stratton fell to 9-19, 2-9.
The series finale on Sunday has a noon start.
CVCC 16, Bryant & Stratton 2, 5 inn.
The Red Hawks scored a season-high 16 runs, and Logan Bender struck out 13 to complete a sweep.
CVCC gained an early lead, scoring in the top first inning on an RBI single to left field by Tyler Campbell that scored R.J. Conner.
Bryant & Stratton tied it at 1 in the bottom of the first inning on a run-scoring single by Robert Olah.
The Red Hawks went up 4-1 in the second inning via an RBI double by Mason Lyda and a two-run home run by Conner, his second of the year.
CVCC scored 11 runs in the fourth inning on four hits, six walks and an error by the Bobcats. The big hit of the inning was a two-run home run by Malik Stephens — his first collegiate homer.
Jackson Brown added a two-run double to left field, Trent Jones drove in a run on a bloop single to shallow right field and Willie Gordon, Conner, Stephens and Lyda each had RBIs on bases-loaded walks.
Bender closed the door in the fifth inning, with all three outs by strikeout. He gained his team-leading fourth win of the season, allowing just four hits, no walks and two unearned runs.
CVCC 8, Bryant & Stratton 0, 7 inn.
Starting pitcher Blake Dockery tossed his second straight one-hitter and Conner drove in three runs in Saturday’s first game.
CVCC took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning, capitalizing on a leadoff walk by Conner, who stole second base, advanced to third base on a fly out by left fielder Brown and scored on a sacrifice fly by Campbell.
Conner scored again in the third inning, drawing a walk and stealing second base. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch before scoring on an error at first base to make it 2-0.
CVCC padded its lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning, scoring twice. Stephens drove in Jones on an RBI single to right-center field, and Conner scored Sabion Thomas on an RBI fielder’s choice to make it a four-run game.
The Red Hawks opened it up in the sixth inning, scoring four runs that included a two-RBI triple by Conner and an RBI sacrifice fly by Brown.
Dockery tossed seven shutout innings, allowing two walks and striking out seven to gain his third win of the season.
Gordon named NJCAA Player of the Week
Gordon, a sophomore from Denver, Colo., was tabbed the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Player of the Week on Wednesday.
Jones won the same award earlier in the season for CVCC.
GORDON
“I’m just really excited to be the second guy this year (to win a weekly NJCAA award),” Gordon said in a CVCC press release. “It’s good for the program, and it shows what kind of program we have here at CVCC and the players it has produced.”
A 6-foot-2, 220-pound catcher, Gordon hit .454 in seven games last week with a team-best 10 hits that included two doubles and three home runs.
Two of Gordon’s homers came in the Red Hawks’ first game last week against Spartanburg Methodist, including a walk-off game winner against the Pioneers.
He also drew three walks, scored eight runs and drove in 11 runs, finishing the week with a .538 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
“Honestly, I was just seeing the ball really well and was really hunting for my pitch,” Gordon said. “I got it a few times and just tried to take advantage of it. A few of the at bats I had to grind out, but it ended up working out my way and benefitted the team.”
Behind Gordon’s play, the Red Hawks finished the week 6-1.
Gordon is the first CVCC catch to receive national recognition.
“It’s pretty huge,” Gordon said of his honor.
- Reported by CVCC Sports Information