Orange Holds Off Blue, Takes First Series

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Orange team finished off a series win over the Blue with a 6-5 victory Thursday evening in Game 3 of the Orange and Blue World Series at Davenport Field. With the win, the Orange swept the first three-game series.

The teams will begin the second three-game series at 6 p.m. Tuesday. There also will be a seventh game which will conclude the World Series.

Orange starter Will Roberts pitched five innings, allowing three runs (two earned), four hits and one walk. He struck out one. Dan Grovatt earned the win after pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Chad O’Connor tossed the final 2.1 innings to notch the save.

The Orange did most of its damage at the bottom of its lineup, as the 7-9 hitters combined to go 7-for-11 with five RBI. Jared King was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Ryan Levine went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Tyler Biddix was 2-for-4 with three RBI.

Danny Hultzen and David Coleman each had two hits for the Blue, while Rob Amaro hit a two-run home run.

Branden Kline started for the Blue and went 3.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned), four hits and three walks while striking out one. Aaron Stull was credited with the loss after allowing one run over two innings.

The Orange manufactured a run in the first inning, getting a one-out single from Shane Halley, who then stole second and moved to third on a throwing error on the play. He scored when Grovatt grounded out to shortstop.

The Orange broke through against Kline for three runs in the fourth inning, getting an RBI single from King and a two-run single from Biddix off reliever Corey Hunt. The Blue team came right back in the fifth with three of its own on an RBI double by Coleman and a two-run home run by Amaro that cleared the bleachers in left field.

In the sixth, the Blue tied the game when Phil Gosselin scored on a fielding error, but the Orange struck for a run in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Biddix to break the tie.

The Orange added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a two-out double by Levine to plate King, and that run proved key as the Blue got a one-out triple from Tyler Cannon in the ninth inning and he scored on a Gosselin groundout.

Orange & Blue World Series (all games are at 6 p.m.)
Game 1: Orange 7, Blue 4
Game 2: Orange 9, Blue 2
Game 3: Orange 6, Blue 5 (Orange wins first series, 3-0)

Game 4: Tuesday, October 13
Game 5: Thursday, October 15
Game 6: Friday, October 16
(Ring Ceremony/Celebration of 2009 Team/Youth Baseball Day)
Game 7: Tuesday, October 20