Raiders sweep Oroville, Bridgeport

Raider baseball completed a season series sweep of the Oroville Hornets April 23 in Oroville, 16-0.

Kendal Piccolo pitched a complete game no hitter, a rare pitching feat at all levels of the game. Piccolo backed up his pitching performance by batting four for six on the day.

Brady Black picked up two doubles at Oroville.

A black mark on an otherwise excellent day for the Raiders was an injury to Justus DeWinkler. DeWinkler broke a finger which has the possibility of leaving him sidelined for an extended period of time. Head Coach Ted Piccolo hopes that is not the case.

“We are crossing our fingers in hopes that he may be available sometime in postseason play,” Piccolo said.

The Raiders currently rank third in the Central Washington North combined standings behind Liberty Bell and Pateros. In the postseason, Pateros will compete in the 1B portion of district play, meaning the Raiders will have the second seed for the 2B portion, as LR beat the Bridgeport Mustangs in both games of a doubleheader Monday, 13-4 and 11-1.

In the first game, the Raiders got a taste of the future as Chance Garvin and Devan Black took the mound pitching.

“Freshmen Chance Garvin and Devan Black have continued to improve nicely on the mound and have have demonstrated that they are ready to contribute to the varsity rotation,” Piccolo said.

Garvin struck out six Mustangs while allowing only two hits and two earned runs in five innings. Devan Black struck out two and gave up only one hit and one earned run in his two innings of relief. At the plate, Garvin, Trey Nicolson and Bubba Garcia all hit doubles and drove in five runs altogether.

On the basepaths, Kendall Piccolo stole a total of five bases to lead the Raiders. Bubba Garcia nicked four, Trey Nicolson stole three bases, Brady and Devan Black stole two each, while Daniel Loch and Garvin each had one steal.

Game two was more of the Raider dominance as Kendall Piccolo pitched a complete game, striking out seven and giving up one earned run and no hits. Nicolson had an explosive game at the plate, going three for three with six RBIs and a double.

Devan Black drove in three runners and connected for a double. Brady Black was two for two with a double, two stolen bases, and scored three runs.

Kendall Piccolo backed up his pitching effort with a stolen base and three scored runs. Coach Piccolo liked the way Senior Night turned out, “All in all it was a solid night for the Raiders and a nice way to go into the postseason,” he said.

The next game on LR’s schedule is May 6 at Wenatchee Valley Community College against, most likely, the White Swan Cougars.

Coach Piccolo is looking forward to the time to prepare and get players healthy.

“If we can get Brady Black back and healthy we will have four good arms for pitching at districts,” he noted.