The Atlee baseball team came into last week’s North/South Tournament on a high. With an undefeated record and big wins over county rivals Patrick Henry and Lee-Davis, the Raiders looked to continue their strong start against some of the region’s top teams; #9 St. Christopher’s, Benedictine and #1 Matoaca.

  But instead of continuing to roll, the Raiders got rolled for three straight decisive losses falling to the Saints 11-6, the Cadets 14-0 and the Generals 6-2.

  Atlee head coach Kevin Elrod could not fully describe his team’s performance. “Awful,” he said searching for a description. “I can’t put it into words.”

  With his young team’s off-target showing, Elrod said it is possible that Spring Break may have interrupted the player’s normal routines.

  “We have a set routine getting ready for games and Spring Break always brings us out of our rhythm,” Elrod said. “It just breaks the team routine.

  “That’s no excuse,” he said. “We just didn’t come out to play. The kids came out flat, couldn’t make adjustments. Pitchers couldn’t hit our spots and we weren’t swinging our bats.

  “Kids have to mentally prepare themselves for the game and this past week I don’t think we were mentally prepared,” Elrod said.

  Facing an undefeated St. Christopher’s team in their Wednesday opener, pitcher Ryan Bettinger and Atlee got off to a slow start when the first two Saints’ batters reached base; Patrick Martin on a walk and Porter Reinhardt on a single to short.

  A pass ball by Curt Fleming recorded the first out but it also advanced both runners into scoring position.

  When St. Christopher’s Casey Fox sent a two-out shot past third it was enough to bring Martin home for an early 1-0 lead.

  On defense, Saints starting pitcher Campbell Henkel kept the Raiders’ bats in check until late in the game. In the bottom of the first Atlee’s Austin Young was the only player to reach base when the throw to first went high.

  In the bottom of the second, Conner Hall led off with a single to second that was bobbled, then stole third. But a single to third by Mitch Keeler caught Hall for an out. Cole Carter, pinch-running for Keeler was then caught in a rundown and Cody Farrar was fanned to end the inning.

  Still holding a 1-0 lead, St. Christopher’s broke things open in the top of the third with a run through their order. Reinhart led things off with a double to the right center fence. Next up Fleming bounced the ball off the top of the left center fence for a home run and a 3-0 lead.

  With one out, Fox singled to left, stole second then reached third on a wild pitch.

  Drew D’Stanislao reached via walk and stole second and a walk of Duncan MacLeod loaded the bags. When William Bannard drove in Fox on a single between first and second it signaled the end of Bettinger’s day.

  Brent West came to the mound in relief but Seth Wagner pushed home D’Stanislao on a single to short for a 5-0 Saints’ lead.

  Atlee got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when West doubled on a shot to the center fence. With two outs, an RBI single up the middle by Chop Pulisic made the score 5-1.

  But St. Christopher’s tacked on three more in the top of the fourth. Reinhart and Fleming were drove on a double to the left fence by Henkel then Henkel himself scored on a single to short right by MacLeod for an 8-1 lead.

  Though the margin was the same in the fifth, Atlee began to make things interesting. With Cody Mackey now on the mound the Raiders took down the Saints order and began to generate some offense in the bottom half of the inning. 

  Kenner Berry led off with a single to short center then reached second on a wild pitch. Connor Overton was walked and a single to the mound by West loaded the bags when no Saint covered third.

  With one out, Pulisic drove in Berry when the ball was bobbled at short.

  It appeared it would be a new ball game when Young made solid contact but the ball hung in the steady wind, falling short of the center fence for a double that drove in Overton and West for an 8-4 score.

  Though they trimmed the Saints’ lead in half, Atlee could not keep them from adding to it in the top of the sixth with three runs scored on well placed hits for an 11-4 lead.

  Keeler and Overton added Atlee’s two final runs in the bottom of the sixth.
  In the nightcap, Benedictine scored 15 runs in the first three innings while holding the Raiders scoreless for the first time this season.

  “Benedictine really hit the ball against us,” Elrod said.

  On Thursday the Raiders bounced back with a strong effort against the region’s #1 team Matoaca. “I think they did (play better),” Elrod said. “I think they got the wake up call.”
  However, a four run fourth by the Generals led to a 4-2 Atlee loss. “Mentally we did okay, physically we didn’t,” Elrod said. “We weren’t hitting the ball.

  “We beat ourselves this week and it’s all about mental preparation,” Elrod said.

  The Raiders have little time to contemplate their losses with a Capital District matchup against Varina on Tues. then a non-district game against Douglas Freeman on Wed. The week will be capped off with a big rivalry game at Hanover on Friday.

  “These kids go out and play their game they can beat anybody,” Elrod said.  “As bad as it was, we still only made one error out of three games.”

St. Christ…..…104 303 0 — 11 11 1
Atlee ................... 001 032 0 — 6 7 1
Hinkle and Wagner; Bettinger, West (3), Mackey (5) and Keeler. L: Bettinger.
Highlights: Casey Fox (SC) 2 for 3, RBI; Porter Reinhart (SC) 3 for 5, 2 runs; Chop Pulisic (A) 2 for 4, 2 RBI

Benedictine…...... 537 20— 17 14 1
Atlee ..................... 000 00— 0 2 0
Woods and Dyer; Walsh, Carter (3), Pulisic (4) and Keeler. L: Walsh.
Highlights: Andrew Woods (B) 2 for 2, 3 RBI; David Geary (B) 1 for 1, 3-run homer

Matoaca ........... 004 101 0 — 6 11 0
Atlee .................. 100 100 0 — 2 6 0
Kilbourne, Jordan (5) and Chamberlin; Bolka, Young (3), Overton (6) and Keeler. W: Kilbourne. L: Bolka
Highlights: Tyler Coleman (M) 2 for 3; Ben Smith (M) 2 for 3, SB, 2 RBI; Mitch Keeler (A) 2 for 4, RBI; Austin Young (A) 1 for 2
Records: Matoaca 7-0; Atlee 4-3