Red Raiders Take Opener From Whitman-Hanson

With the exception of an erratic 7th inning, things looked pretty solid for the Red Raider nine Wednesday afternoon.

On this chilly but partly sunny season-opener, the Barnstable High School varsity nine (1-0) made a winner out of first-year coach Mark Manning with a 4-3 walkoff victory in the bottom of the 7th inning over visiting Whitman-Hanson (0-1).

With the game tied at 3-3, senior centerfielder Hayden Murphy (2-4) drove the first pitch he saw to deep to center for a double to lead off the 7th frame, was moved to third by senior shortstop Derek Estes (2-4) and then scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Cody Pasic.

But the game had not been as close as the 7th inning score might indicate.

Senior righty Conor Walsh tossed six shutout innings before a leadoff error in the 7th combined with a couple of other tough breaks saw Barnstable's 3-0 lead evaporate and turn into a 3-3 tie. Walsh finished with 7 strikeouts versus one walk and scattered eight hits for his first win of the season. 

Senior rightfielder Micah Gregory finished the day 2-3 with one RBI, including a monster double in the 4th off the leftfield wall and sophomore Griffin Burke launched a leadoff triple in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on Gregory's safety.

Barnstable welcomes Haverhill on Saturday for a non-league doubleheader.