IN SHORT: A runaway win for Abundant Life Tuesday over Riverview secured second place in the final standings for the 3A-2 Conference.
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Abundant Life needed a win against Riverview in order to wrap up second place in the 3A-2 Conference standings, which they took with a landslide win over the Raiders 15-2 Tuesday at the Rose City Boys and Girls Club fields.
The Owls built a solid lead over the first two innings, but the third inning took a solid lead to a downright whipping.
Abundant Life led 12-1 after three innings, and three more runs for the Owls in the fourth would set the ending margin in the lop-sided affair. Owls coach Wes Johnson was complimentary of his entire squad after the game, particularly winning AL pitcher Colby Woolverton and lead-off batter Justin Treece, who started the Owls’ offensive attack with a home run in the bottom of the first inning.
“We swung pretty well tonight,” Johnson said. “Another thing that helped us was Colby Woolverton throwing strikes. That gave our defense a chance to make plays.
“Justin’s home run really gave us a good boost. He’s been a good spark plug at the top of the order for us all season.”
Woolverton didn’t dominate from the mound, but he did hold the Raiders to four hits while giving up four walks. Abundant Life did dominate from the plate, however, with all but one batter generating at least one hit in the contest.
In all, the Owls chalked up 11 hits off of starting Riverview pitcher Cameron Angerman. Austin Crabill came out the biggest hitter for Abundant Life, going 3 for 4 with a triple, a double and a total of six RBIs. Owls centerfielder Jake Chambers took a beating at the plate, literally, scoring a single during his final at-bat after being struck with pitches on his first three trips to the plate.
Treece ended up 2 for 4 in the game adding a single in the decisive third inning to his opening blast. D.J. Baxendale was 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Josh Selby was 1 for 3 with one RBI. Jerry Lawson finished the game 1 for 2 with an RBI.
The Raiders had far less to celebrate, with only three players recording hits in the contest. Angerman took the loss at the mound for Riverview, but did manage one of the game’s two RBIs for the Raiders, driving in Robert Camel for a run in the top of the third inning. Angerman finished 1 for 2, with Jordan Robertson finishing 2 for 3 with a pair of singles.
The win gives Abundant Life an overall record of 20-9, and finishes out their conference record at 6-1, giving them a lock on the No. 2 seed for the district tournament behind conference champions Harding Academy. Riverview’s record dropped to 4-10 overall and 3-4 in the 3A-2 Conference.
