Ringgold soaks in experience, gets big non-section win at PNC Park
By Dean Dellamalva Jr.
MVI Sports
Ringgold senior pitcher Gage Fuller ran out onto the PNC Park field Friday night, got to the mound and then paused.
He looked out to the buildings of downtown Pittsburgh and just soaked it all in.
Fuller and his teammates took full advantage of the opportunity to play at a major league ballpark, coming away with a 9-2 victory over Columbiana from Ohio.
Despite getting a nice non-section victory, the game result was second to the experience earned by both teams on a cold, drizzly night.
“This was a once in a lifetime experience, I’ll never be able to take this all in again and looking at the beautiful skyline,” Fuller said. “It was the best moment of my life.”
Fuller went 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on just four hits. He struck out five and only walked one.
Offensively, the Rams (4-5) were paced by sophomore catcher Hunter Mamie who was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs. He echoed Fuller on the experience and believes it can help Ringgold get things rolling.
“I think we can use this game to propel us. The last two games we haven’t hit too well,” Mamie said. “Our bats were getting a little bit better tonight, but we still need to get a lot more hits.”
“It’s something we talked about coming into this game because we wanted to springboard into our next two section games,” Ringgold coach Don Roberts said. “Right now we’re 0-4 in the section and the next two are must win games. That made tonight, in my mind, a must win game.”
The Clippers (7-2) took a bit of a different approach to the game, according to coach Ryan Wolf.
“It wasn’t about winning, it wasn’t about losing, it was about being together. This will be something they share for the rest of their life,” Wolf said. “We ended up getting 19 guys in and at the end, I had a couple of my starters volunteer their at bats to players who did not get in and let them bat.”
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