Salem CC baseball opens its season with doubleheader sweep at Bryant & Stratton (Va.); LeBold has homer, 6 RBIs in opener, String homers in nightcap
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Apparently, not having been outside to practice all winter didn’t affect the Salem CC baseball team much.
The Mighty Oaks, stuck inside since the biggest snowstorm in a decade three weeks ago still had the area looking like the frozen tundra, opened their season Monday with a 10-6, 6-2 sweep of Bryant & Stratton, a team that has already played 11 games. Both wins were come-from-behind affairs.
It marked their first doubleheader sweep to open the season since the revival of the program, their first Opening Day win since 2023 and their third Opening Day win since 2020.
The Mighty Oaks had concerns about not being outside, but coach John Holt reminded them they have played the game before and to keep things as simple as possible once they did get on the field.
“They’ve caught a thousand ground balls and a thousand fly balls in their lifetime and all I’m looking for is them to just keep routine routine,” Holt said before the trip.
The hitters didn’t have a problem. Sophomore outfielder Jason LeBold had a big day. He had seven RBIs in the doubleheader and had the go-ahead RBI in both games.
He drove in six in the opener. He hit a three-run go-ahead homer in the second inning after the Bobcats dropped an inning-ending third strike the batter before, hit a two-run single in the fourth and drove in a run with an infield out in the sixth. In the nightcap, he broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth with an RBI double.
Former Woodstown standout Rocco String made his first college hit a big one, launching a three-run homer in seventh inning of the nightcap.
Tyler Hacker had two doubles and an RBI in the opener and two singles and an RBI in the nightcap. He also closed out the opener on the mound with a game-ending double play. Actually, the Mighty Oaks ended both games with a double play.
The Mighty Oaks are off now until Feb. 27 when they open Region 19 play at home against Ocean. Perhaps by then the snow will be gone.
GAME 1: SALEM CC 10, B&S 6
| Salem CC | 030 | 301 | 3- | 10 | 6 | 0 |
| Bryant & Stratton | 100 | 202 | 1- | 6 | 8 | 3 |
GAME 2: SALEM CC 6, B&S 2
| Salem CC | 002 | 100 | 3- | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| Bryant & Stratton | 020 | 000 | 0- | 2 | 7 | 2 |
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