The Roanoke Rapids High School Varsity Yellow Jackets Baseball team picked up a big conference win on Tuesday might at home when they beat South Granville by a score of 3-0 at Doyle Field.
Jake Van Dam pitched the complete game shutout, giving up only 2 hits while striking out 7 batters.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Colin Long reached on a two out single. Long came around to score on a single by Peyton Jackson. Jackson then came around to score on a double by Aaron Jackson.
RRHS scored their last run in the bottom of the 5th inning. Jake Van Dam led off with a single. Ethan Vincent, running for the pitcher, scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Jackson.
The 3 runs would be all that Van Dam and his defense needed. Collecting hits for the Jackets were Colin Long, Peyton Jackson, Aaron Jackson, Cameron Salmon, and Jake Van Dam.
Jackets coach Mark Snead stated, "This was a complete team effort. Jake pitched a great game. He kept them off balance and hit his spots well. Our defense played great behind him and helped preserve the shutout. Then our offense had some timely hits to score the three runs. This was our best overall performance of the year. We have been talking about playing smart and putting our hearts into the game and the guys did that tonight. I am really proud of entire team tonight."
With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 8-6 overall and 6-2 in the Northern Carolina Conference. The next game for RRHS will be on Friday when they travel to South Granville.
