The Pirate Baseball team moved to 21-6 on the season and concluded regular season play with a 6-4 win over New Albany Monday afternoon.  The Bulldogs (15-14) scored two runs in the top of the first and two in the seventh; but not enough to out pace the host Pirates.  New Albany finished the game with ten hits and three errors; but only earned four runs in the loss.  The Pirates finished with six hits and no errors.  Pirate Austin Smith (7-1) got the win from the mound in 6 2/3 innings, walking three and striking three out.  “A great team win today.  Austin threw the ball well and we did a great job with the bats and played solid defense”, complimented Head Coach Ricky Romans.  Dewey Cardwell finished two for four from the plate, leading the Pirates; while Drew Reich and Zach Ramirez added doubles.  The Pirates will now begin Sectional play Wednesday evening at North Harrison, versus arch-rival Silver Creek, for a 7:30 pm first pitch.  Sectional games can be heard live via www.CPPSB.com.

The Pirates made the three hour trek to Oxford, Indiana Saturday to play in the annual Bison Invitational; then made it more than worth their time in topping Western and host Benton Central High School to win the Invitational in convincing style.  Benton Central High School is located just northwest of Lafayette, Indiana; and provided the venue for Senior Pirate Ryan Jones (shown left) to become Charlestown’s All Time Hits Leader.  Jones, who signed to play college ball at Owens Junior College after high school, broke baseball’s big record Saturday with a two run homer in the top of the 3rd inning against Western.  The home run gave Jones hit number 137 for his career; breaking the old record of 136 hits held by former Pirate Cameron Metzger.  Jones will continue to expand his record pace through the rest of the season; as coming into Saturday’s Invitational he sported a .522 batting average after 86 plate appearances this season.

Charlestown squared off with the Western Panthers in their first Bison Invitational match-up; a Class 3A school located east of Lafayette in north central Indiana.  The Pirates fell behind 4-0 early in the contest; however tied the game at four in the top of fourth with help from the Jones’ record breaking two run homer in the third.  The shootout was on for an inning and a half until the top of the seventh, when the Pirates had enough.  The Panthers (9-11) scored two runs in the bottom of four and three in five before being cut off by the Pirate defense.  The Panthers led 9-6 going to the top of the sixth; when the Pirates added three runs in the top of the sixth and six big runs in the top of seven to put Western away for the day.  Senior Dalton Brown (2-2) got the win in relief, pitching three innings, and striking out three.  Charlestown scored 15 runs off 13 hits and committed three errors; while Western scored 9 runs off 10 hits and also committed three errors.  Senior Ryan Jones, in addition to becoming Charlestown’s new All Time Hits Leader, finished 3 of 4 at the plate, including two home runs, five RBI’s and plated four times.  Junior Zach Ramirez finished 4 of 4 in his trips to the plate, scoring three times and batting in two more runs.

The 15-9 win over Western advanced the Pirates to meet the host Bison in the Invitational Championship game.  Colin Martin (3-2) got the mound call for the Pirates, pitching a complete seven inning game, striking out nine, allowing seven hits, one walk, and one earned run to pick up the Championship bout win versus Benton Central 5-1.  Benton Central’s (16-10) lone run came in the bottom of the third, as seven team hits produced one run behind Charlestown’s defense.  Charlestown scored five runs on five hits and committed one error; the Bison committed two in the same game.  Pirate Junior Dewey Cardwell led the winning team at the plate, finishing two for four with a double; while Junior Tanner Wesp finished 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBI’s.  “Today was a great day of baseball.  We showed a lot of heart in the first game and Colin pitched extremely well in the championship game.  Great team wins today”, summarized Pirate Skipper Ricky Romans.

The Pirates (20-6) will return home Sunday and host New Albany on Monday at 11:00 am; a game that will be broadcasted by CPPSB at www.CPPSB.com; then begin Sectional play Wednesday at North Harrison High School versus Silver Creek (5:30 pm first pitch).

 

Pirate Baseball won their seventh consecutive game and improved to 18-5 on the season by dispatching New Washington 19-2 in non-conference play Thursday evening.  Additionally, Head Coach Ricky Romans tallied high school coaching career win number 200 in the process.  The Pirates scored four runs in the first and twelve runs in the second to over-power the visiting Mustangs (9-9); finishing with 15 hits and one error.  Colin Martin (2-2) got the win from the mound for the Pirates; while Brandon Love finished 3-4 from the plate, including a double, three RBI’s and three runs scored.  David Rodriguez finished 4-4 at the plate, including three doubles, a home run, four RBI’s and three runs scored.  “Brandon and David played extremely well tonight and took advantage of their opportunities, which is great to see.  They were ready to play and ready to step up when their number was called”, commented Head Coach Ricky Romans after the win.  The Pirates will now travel to Oxford Indiana on Saturday to compete in the annual Benton Central High School Bison Invitational.  Follow Charlestown Pirate Pride Sports Broadcasting on Twitter for updates and the PiratePride.BLUE website for results.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team moved to 17-5 with a 6-1 road victory over Lanesville; while Coach Romans becomes Pirate Baseball’s winningest coach with a record of 199-121.  Austin Smith (6-1) collected the victory from the mound in 5 2/3 innings pitched.  Smith allowed six hits, walked one, allowed only one earned run and struck out five in the win.  Ryan Jones led the Pirates from the plate, finishing 2-3; while scoring two runs and collecting a RBI.  Dewey Cardwell finished 2-4 for at the plate, including a double and two RBI’s.  Lanesville plated a run in the bottom of the first, then the Pirates poured it on in the sixth and seventh innings; scoring two and four runs respectively.  “We did a great job sticking with it tonight after being behind most of the game.  Give credit to Lanesville’s pitcher, he did a nice job keeping us off track early.  As a veteran team though, it was good to see our guys come through with the game on the line,” commented Pirate Head Coach Romans.  The Pirates host New Washington Thursday beginning at 5:30pm.

Charlestown Pirate Baseball’s Head Coach Ricky Romans is a stickler for details, and has proven time after time that its the details that take you places in the long run.  Coach Romans took the Charlestown helm in 2004, and a situation where the Pirates hadn’t won more than nine games in each of its prior four seasons.  It took Romans just one season to return the Pirates back to winning form, of which he has steadily improved on ever since.  Romans holds everyone around his program to a higher level than the local average, and its made Pirate Nation a better and highly respected local baseball hub as a result.  Romans pits the Pirates against the toughest competition around for a reason, the details.  The 11th ranked Pirates are in the midst of another successful season, Mid-Southern Conference Champions, and 16-5 record going into tonights (Wednesday) non-conference match-up versus Lanesville.  What the Lanesville game isn’t about, if you ask Coach Romans, is milestones his personal coaching record is on the brink of accomplishing.  Coach Romans will correct you with what his program’s obvious main objectives currently are this season.  Pirate Baseball Head Coach Ricky Romans, in his 12th season at Charlestown, has 198 wins and only 121 losses.  Coach Romans is obviously two wins away from a 200 win coaching milestone at Charlestown; but also one win away from passing former Coach Mike Hall as the winningest Pirate Baseball Coach in Charlestown history.  Good luck to the Pirates as they travel to Lanesville tonight, Saturday as they compete in the Benton Central Invitational, and next week versus New Albany and Sectional #30 play; but also THANK YOU COACH ROMANS for taking care of the details moving the Pirate Baseball program up and ahead of the average.

Charlestown Pirate Baseball learned its necessary path to a 2015 Class 3A Sectional 30 title, and that includes an opener versus their rival Dragons.  Sectional 30 will be hosted by North Harrison High School, scheduled for Wednesday, May 27th through Monday, June 1st.  Game #1 pits Silver Creek vs. Charlestown, Game #2 pits Brownstown Central vs. Corydon Central; both games scheduled for Wednesday evening May 27th.  The bottom half of the brackets include a Thursday Game #3 match-up between North Harrison and Madison; and (Game #4) Scottsburg and Salem.  Wednesday’s winners and Thursday’s winners will match-up on Friday evening for the Sectional Semi-Finals.  The Sectional Championship is scheduled for Monday, June 1st at 6:30 pm.  The Pirates dropped the regular season showdown with Silver Creek 4-0, earlier in the month with an uncharacteristic performance at Creek.  All Pirate Baseball Post Season games will be broadcasted live by Pirate Pride Sports at www.CPPSB.com.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team improved to 16-5 & 8-1 MSC Monday evening at Salem, handily defeating the host Lions on their Senior Night, 13-5.  The win also gave the Pirate program its third Mid-Southern Conference Baseball Title, and first since 1987.  “I’m very proud of our entire team and coaching staff today.  Our guys have worked extremely hard all year and it’s great to see their hard work pay off”. commented Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans regarding the win.  Charlestown will celebrate Senior Night festivities Tuesday evening at CHS, hosting Seymour.  The Pirates scored five in the first, three in the second, and three in the seventh….after a couple of runs in between to keep Salem at bay all evening.  Charlestown scored their thirteen runs off fourteen hits and while committing only two errors.  Kelly Rider stayed undefeated on the mound (6-0), getting the win.  Rider also had a solid night from the plate, hitting a home run, and batting in four runs.  Additionally, Ryan Jones finished 2-4, with 2 Runs, Dewey Cardwell finished 2-3, with 2 Runs, and 2 RBI’s, Drew Reich recorded hits 3-5 from the plate, including a double, a triple and two RBI’s.  Senior Jason Houchens also added a double while getting two hits off four trips to the plate.  The win is the Pirates’ 11th out of the last 13 outing.  The Pirates will learn their Sectional draw Tuesday morning, which will be announced by the IHSAA shortly after 10 am Tuesday.  The Sectional pairings will be announced by CPPSB via Twitter as soon as they are announced.  The Pirates will travel to Lanesville Wednesday and will participate in the Benton Central Invitational Saturday.