The VPCC baseball team had a busy week with nine games, including four doubleheaders, in six days. That stretch included the Gators' first two wins of the season.
The week started Feb. 25 with a pair of losses, 12-4 and 7-2, to The Apprentice School at War Memorial Stadium. The Gators scored first in each game but couldn't sustain it. In the opener, Garrett Hudson (Robinson HS/Tampa, Fla.) and Marco Fernandez (Spanish River HS/Florida) had three hits to lead a 12-hit attack, one more than the Builders. Brendan Walker (Lancaster) and Israel Dozier (Kempsville/Virginia Beach) each had a double among their two hits. Logan Contreraz (Deep Creek/Chesapeake) and Damien Allen Jr. (Pine Forest/NC) combined for 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. In the second game, Dozier and Walker added two more hits apiece. Kaden Hunley (Middlesex) limited the Builders to no runs and one hit in two innings of relief. He struck out four.
The next day at Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City, N.C., the Gators were swept again, 7-6 and 15-2. Dozier, Fernandez and Cameron Johnson (Nansemond River/Suffolk) each had two hits, and Fernandez drove in two runs. Both of Dozier's hits were doubles. Hunley threw four innings of relief and got the loss, despite giving up just one run. In the second game, the Gators were held to just four hits.
The team's first win of the season came the following day in the first game of a doubleheader at Chowan in Murfreesboro, N.C. Walker had two three-run home runs, and Aiden Feather had two HRs among his three hits and drove in three runs in a 20-15 victory. Hudson and Justin Bryson (Arbor View HS/Las Vegas) also hit home runs and each drove in three runs as the Gators pounded out 20 hits. Dominic Salazar (Overhills/NC) earned the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings and giving up one hit and two runs.
The Gators couldn't get a sweep, however, losing 13-2 in the nightcap. Walker and Fernandez had two hits, and Feather had another home run.
After a day off, the Gators headed back to North Carolina to open the Region 10 portion of their schedule with a three-game series at Caldwell Community College in Murfreesboro, N.C.
On March 1, the Gators dropped a doubleheader 11-1 and 4-2. That was followed the next day by a 9-8 win against the Cobras, with Dozier having two hits, Alvarez driving in three runs, and Johnson and Walker driving in two apiece. Alvarez and Feather hit home runs. Fernandez extended his hitting streak to 11 games, going 15-33 (.455) in that stretch.
The March 5 game at Bryant & Stratton has been canceled, so the Gators have just three games this week, a home weekend Region 10 series against Rockingham Community College (N.C.) at War Memorial Stadium. Saturday's doubleheader starts at 1 p.m., with Sunday's single game beginning at noon.
