By JOSH BURRIS
The Bluffton Tigers and Southern Wells Raiders put their aces on the mound Tuesday to duke it out on the diamond. Bluffton’s was a bit better though, and as a result defeated the Raiders 4-0.
Bluffton pitcher Braxton Betancourt allowed his only hit of the day to the first batter he faced. Southern Wells’ Branson Rheinhart legged out an infield single to kick things off in the first inning.
From there, Betancourt struck out the next 13 batters he faced in the game.
Brock Drayer came in relief for the final 2 2/3 innings and allowed no hits and just one walk while striking out three.
Bluffton coach Jason Pierce said it was a great day for both of his pitchers.
“We were going to try and run Braxton on a limited number of pitches. We were able to do that today,” Pierce said. “I thought Brock did a phenominal job today coming in and getting the ball over the plate. I thought he picked up right where Braxton left off. That was his best outing of the year by far.
“I thought both of our pitchers did a great job.”
Southern Wells’ Evan Reynolds had a strong outing as well, going six innings and allowing three earned runs while striking out nine and walking three.
“He (Reynolds) kept us off balance pretty well the whole day,” Pierce said about the Raider senior.
Like Pierce, Southern Wells coach Blade Rheinhart was also complimentary of his opponent’s pitcher, as well as his own.
“Hats off to Braxton. The kid is good on the mound,” Rheinhart said about the Bluffton sophomore. “Evan, same thing. He’s been going at it four years. He’s a senior and just the ultimate competitor. He’s going to put us in a good spot. We just, offensively, let him down.”
Owen Vickrey came in for Southern Wells (2-5) in the seventh and allowed no hits, runs, or walks.
The Tigers (7-4) found some luck against Reynolds in the third inning with the bottom of their lineup.
Curtis Ellis led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brody Lewis. He then scored on a single by Lukas Hunt to left field.
Betancourt followed up with a walk to put two runners on with one out. However, Reynolds got the next two Tigers he faced to fly out and strikeout to end the damage.
The Tigers picked things back up in the fourth inning and scored their final three runs. Kyler Rolston and Drew Pressler each hit singles, and Ellis hit another to bring in a run.
Later with two outs, Hunt hit a double to score two more runs and make it a 4-0 game.
Both teams return to action on Thursday, with Bluffton hosting Woodlan and Southern Wells traveling to Heritage.
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