Deltas’ pitcher and outfielder Reggie Johnson did something you rarely see in baseball: He threw the first pitch of the game, and he hit the last pitch of the game.
The Deltas plated nine runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night in a rally capped by Johnson’s walk-off grand slam home run, and the Deltas defeated Richmond Team Woody, 15-4.
Johnson started on the mound for Deltaville, and for four innings was virtually unhittable. Team Woody’s player/coach Mark Fleisher, a former professional hitter from the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox, was the only scratch on Johnson’s stat sheet early on, blasting a solo home run early in the first inning. Johnson would strike out eight of the next 11 batters (including Fleisher in the third), before being lifted for relief pitcher Brian Owens with two outs in the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, Deltaville’s offense scraped back and tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the first, and then took the lead with a two-run double by Holden Sandridge in the third. Tyler Wood singled home Sandridge, and later scored on a balk to give Deltaville a 5-1 advantage.
Team Woody struck back in the top of the fifth, manufacturing three runs to cut the Deltas lead to 5-4. Sandridge led off the Deltas’ side of the fifth with a single, and the catcher was pinch-run for by Deltas outfielder Jacob Houston, who escaped a rundown between third and home to score and give the Deltas a 6-4 lead.
After a scoreless sixth, the Deltas’ offense became unstoppable in the seventh, batting around the entire order and plating nine runs. Johnson capped the rally with his bases-loaded home run that soared over top of the left field scoreboard, inducing the 10-run league mercy rule.
Five different Deltas collected multi-hit games, with Jason Wood and Ryan Wiggins joining Sandridge, T. Wood, and Johnson in the box score. Owens was credited as the winning pitcher; his second win of the season. The CNU pitcher and former Mathews High standout struck out four over 2 1/3 innings.
The Deltas away game last Thursday against the Richmond Orioles was rained out, and will be made up on July 3. The Deltas fell to the Richmond Pawsox on Tuesday night in Richmond by the score of 4-2, and played the Tappahannock Tides on Wednesday night, but details were not available at press time.
Deltaville returns home Saturday for a big night at the ballpark, as the Richmond Orioles come to town on Deltaville Sharks Night.
Immediately before the game, the Deltaville Sharks Swim Team will be honored on the field and will stand with the Deltas players during the national anthem. A gas grill and fire pit from Urbanna Builders Supply and M&M Building Supply will also be raffled off, with proceeds benefiting the Sharks and the Deltaville Ballpark renovation.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the pregame ceremony starting at approximately 7:15.