The Pirates and the Rebels were originally scheduled to meet at South Central Monday evening; however mother nature had a problem with that.  The game was moved to Charlestown, where limited rain had fallen and the two ranked teams in their respective classes went to work for a non-conference-early-season match-up.  South Central (1-0), ranked #2 in Class A ball, fell behind early in the game when the Pirates (1-1), ranked #11 in Class 3A, landed on the scoreboard first with a run in the opening inning.  The Rebels scored three runs in third, and enough defense in the remaining innings to hold on for a 3-2 victory.  South Central’s Nick Veith got the win from the mound.  Pirate Baseball Slugger Kelly Rider had a nice hitting night for the Pirates, finishing with a double and a home run.  “We left way too many men on base tonight, especially in scoring position.  I thought Veith threw a nice game for them and we just didn’t make adjustments.  It’s early so we’ll make the necessary changes and corrections as we go”, commented Pirate Head Coach Romans.  The Pirates collected five hits and only one error on the night.  The Pirates host New Albany Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm.

The Charlestown Pirate Baseball team got their 2015 campaign off to a winning start Tuesday evening by defeating Plainfield 8-7.  The Plainfield Quakers, coming off a 3-2 loss earlier in the day to Jeffersonville; are an Indiana Class 4A high school from Hendricks County, 10 miles west of Indianapolis.  Plainfield jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning and would take that lead into the bottom of the 3rd.  Charlestown’s offense was sparked in the home half of the 3rd by a leadoff double down the left field line by Ryan Jones.  Dewey Cardwell would follow with a walk.  After advancing on a double steal, Tanner Wesp plated Jones and Cardwell with a 1 out single.  Following another single by Kelly Rider, Brady Hester delivered with a run scoring single with 2 outs to score Wesp.  The Pirates then took the lead on a single by Jason Houchens to score Atom Ward and Brady Hester.  Ward had come on as a courtesy runner for Rider, who was the starting pitcher for the Pirates.  Charlestown would add another run in the 4th inning on a 1 out double by Drew Reich, which scored Ryan Jones after Jones reached on a single and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cardwell.  The lead grew to 8-4 in the bottom of the 5th when Houchens and Jones scored after drawing walks and ultimately scoring on a couple of Plainfield errors.  Plainfield would add 3 runs in the top of the 6th inning to end the scoring on the night and the Pirates closed the door with a 1-2-3 in the 7th to get their first victory of the new campaign.  “I’m very pleased with our effort tonight.  It’s always nice to get off to a good start with a win.  Kelly threw the ball well tonight and our offense got timely hits.  All in all, it was a good opener to the season”, commented Pirates Head Coach Ricky Romans.  The Pirates are back in action on Friday night when they host Alexandria in the first round of the Silver Creek Invitational at Charlestown High School.  First pitch is scheduled for 5:00pm.

Charlestown Pirate Baseball Seniors, Ryan Jones (left seated center) and Drew Reich (right seated center) have signed to play NJCAA college baseball next school year for Owens College in Perrysburg, Ohio.  Ryan is joined by his family, including parents JR and Tisha Jones and Drew his family, including patents Andrew Reich and Jennifer Romans.  Both families are joined by Pirate Baseball Assistant Coach Brian Hester and Head Coach Ricky Romans (left to right standing) and Charlestown High School Athletic Director Chad Gilbert (seated left).

Drew has a current high school pitching record of 22 wins and 3 loses, and on a 22 game winning streak with an ERA of 2.50 and 185 strikeouts.  Owens College is currently recruiting Drew for a pitching position on their team.

Ryan currently, going into his senior year as a Pirate, holds a .394 batting average (99-251) just one hit shy of #100; including 17 doubles, 7 triples, 7 home runs, and 66 stolen bases.  Owens College is currently recruiting Ryan as an outfielder prospect.

” I am very proud of both of these guys.  They have worked extremely hard and deserve this opportunity.  I fully expect them to represent Owens and Coach Parisho’s baseball program with the same effort and attitude the way they have represented Charlestown High School and our baseball program”, commented Head Pirate skipper Romans after the signing ceremony.  Congratulations to both Ryan and Drew on pursuing Baseball at the next level and best of luck from Pirate Nation….Once a Pirate, ALWAYS A PIRATE!  For more information about Pirate Baseball, including the upcoming 2015 regular season schedules, go to www.PiratePride.BLUE/Baseball!