Druid Hills Stung By Raiders

playoff hopes rest with this week's two remaining makeup games after being upended 10-2 by Riverwood at John Devore Field Wednesday night.

The visitors scored six runs in the seventh inning in the rout, which snapped a three-game winning streak for the Red Devils and earned Riverwood a seventh victory on the bounce.

It leaves Druid Hills needing to beat Grady or Cedar Grove in the rescheduled completion games, which were abandoned earlier in the season due to lightning and darkness with the scores tied.   

"If we win one of those games, I imagine we'll be in the region playoffs," said Druid Hills coach Matt Gershon, looking ahead to the next game. "Thursday's going to be a fun situation."

The Raiders, who remain firmly in third place, outhit Druid Hills 15 to seven. Lee Miller pitched six innings with six strikeouts, and doubled in Kevin Arnold in the first inning for the opening run.

Riverwood picked up a run in the second inning, with David Whitmer scoring.

Druid Hills responded in the same frame when Foster Thomason's blooper drove in Darren Stokes. The hosts’ final run, tying the score 2-2, came in the third inning, which started with three-straight hits and Max Bowen scoring.

The Raiders re-took the lead, 3-2, in the third inning, a Dylan Vainer double easily bringing home Whitmer, who had a standup triple.

An insurance run in the sixth inning, scored by pinch runner Rives Edwards, on for Nick Dias, preceded an eight-hit final at-bat for the Raiders.

Druid Hills starting pitcher Manny Zaldivar was replaced after Riverwood went up 9-2. Arnold, Miller, Dias and Zach Meads all picked up RBIs.

“We were in a bit of a tough situation, pitching wise,” said Gershon. “After it got a little bit out of hand, it’s a tough situation. You always want to be competitive.”