Hours after debuting at #11 in this week’s Class 3A Coaches Poll, the Pirate Baseball team hosted the Class A #17 South Central Rebels Monday evening at Charlestown High School.  Excluding the March 29th set back versus an upstart Columbus East team, the Pirates (4-1) not only beat a second straight ranked team in as many starts; but also displayed some early season pitching depth, seeing their fourth pitcher in five games do damage.  Devon Krueger (1-0) got the win from the mound Monday, striking out seven Rebels, while allowing five hits in 6 1/3 innings.  After a scoreless three and half innings, the Pirates hit their gear scoring twice in the fourth, once in the fifth, and five times in the sixth while cruising to a 8-1 non-conference victory.  Brandon Love finished the game 2 of 4 from the plate with an RBI; while Justin Farris scored two Pirates while going 2-3 from the plate.  “Tonight was a good win against a quality team. South Central always plays a good brand of baseball and it’s good to see our guys play as a team to get the win tonight”, commented Pirate Skipper Ricky Romans.   The Pirates travel to New Albany Tuesday for a 5:30 pm non-conference start verses the Bulldogs. (photo courtesy of Melissa Stewart)

Courtesy of wet fields Friday, the annual Silver Creek Invitational got rearranged, setting up two interesting weekend match-ups for the Charlestown Pirate Baseball team.   Saturday morning the Pirates hosted the Shenandoah Raiders, a Class 2A school from around Anderson, Indiana.  The Pirates, with Zach Ramirez (1-0) on the mound; recorded the 15-0 no-hitter, shut-out, scoring early and often.  Charlestown (2-1) scored nine of their 15 runs in the bottom of the first, as the Raiders (0-1) finished the game with 4 errors.  Ramirez pitched five innings and rung up three batters, as the Pirates fielded the ball efficiently throughout the game.  Charlestown’s Zach Whitten, Thomas Hardin, Zach Ramirez, and Tanner Wesp all finished the game with a double each; Dewey Cardwell went 2 for 2 from the plate, as Wesp also added 3 RBI’s and Whitten two more.

Saturday evening the Pirates hosted Preseason Class 3A #5 Griffith Panthers in their evening contest.  Pirate Kelly Rider (2-0) pitched strong from the mound (7IP), retiring five, walking one, and allowing only two hits as Charlestown’s defense and well timed hits shut the Panthers out 2-0.  Griffith, of the northern Indiana – Hammond area, dropped to 1-2 on their early season record.  Pirate Brandon Love finished the game 1 of 2 at the plate, including a double and RBI; Zach Whitten stayed hot at the plate, finishing 2 for 2.
“Great bounce back day of baseball (after posting the Columbus East set back) for us after a couple of good practices. We got great pitching, played good defense and got timely hits all day. As I told the guys, those are recipes for winning baseball” commented Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates return to action Monday, April 4th; as the Varsity will host South Central at 6:00 pm.

Thursday, Senior Charlestown Pirate Slugger Austin Smith signed his letter of intent to play NCAA Division III baseball while attending Earlham College next school year.  Austin’s parents, Tim and Allison Smith, along with Pirate Head Coach Ricky Romans, gathered for the occasion and adjacent photograph.  Austin plans to major in environmental sciences and pre-engineering while attending Earlham College, which is located in Richmond, Indiana (just East of Indianapolis).  “This is a big opportunity to not only pursue my career interests, but also play baseball at the next level under coaches who push you to do your best”, commented Austin.  “Their (Earlham Baseball) facilities are new and state of the art; which also makes it exciting”, Austin added with a smile.  The Quakers play in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with familiar colleges such as Hanover, Rose-Hulman, Anderson, and Franklin.  “I’m very happy for Austin and his family.  With Austin’s frame, he has a lot of upside and potential.  He is a very hard worker and I’m sure he will be a great asset to Coach Sakosits and Earlham Baseball”, commented Coach Ricky Romans.  Follow Pirate Baseball, including Austin’s Senior year at www.PiratePride.BLUE/Baseball.

Pirate Baseball hosted the Lanesville Eagles (0-1) for their season opener Monday at Charlestown HS.  The Pirates (1-0) and pitcher Kelly Rider earned the 4-0 win, holding the Eagles to a two hit shutout while provoking six errors.  Rider also rung up eight Eagle batters in five innings on the mound.  Charlestown catcher Brett Blackford, with a scoreless game, led off the home half of the 3rd inning with a single.  After Dewey Cardwell and Zach Ramirez reached on back to back Lanesville errors to load the bases, Senior Tanner Wesp hit a two-run single to score Justin Farris, courtesy runner for Blackford, and Cardwell.  The Pirates added another run off a Wesp single in the 5th inning and scored the final run on an infield error in the 6th inning that plated Farris who once again was courtesy running for Blackford.  Wesp finished the game 3-3 from the plate, including a double and three RBI’s.  “Always exciting on opening day and I thought our guys played well, especially with the limited practice time to this point.  It’s a long season and we have a lot to improve on, but it’s always nice to get a win on opening day”, commented Head Pirate Skipper Ricky Romans.  The Pirates next host Columbus East Tuesday at 6:00 pm.