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By Jon Kaufman
Contributor

Thursday-When Cave Spring High in Roanoke plays Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke, a battle ensues regardless of the sport. Only 2.8 miles of prime Roanoke Valley real estate lies between the two rivals, and, at least for today, the game was all Hidden Valley Titans.

Pitchers Mitch Custer (University of Charleston), Nic Elder (Navy), and today’s starter Teddy Paisley comprise, arguably, the finest rotation in the Valley. Paisley, starting on the mound, authored three strikeouts in inning one, combining an 86-87 fastball (hitting 88 several times) with a knee buckling curve ball. The Titan’s pitcher helped his cause in the bottom of the inning by drawing a walk, stealing second base, advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on Matt Utermark’s sky high sacrifice fly. 

Paisley picked up two more strikeouts in the second, and produced a clean slate in the third. Cave Spring’s sophomore lefty hurler Joey Bryant held his own, covering the corners with breaking balls, and sneaky fastball. However, Bryant was lifted in the fourth for right hander Matt Gliniecki. The Titans’ DH Utermark led off the inning with a base hit through the middle, followed by a soaring, two-run home run by junior leftfielder Evan Sperger that nestled in the trees behind the left-centerfield fence.

Nic Elder followed Paisley on the mound in the fourth and shutout the Cave Spring Knights for the rest of the ballgame. The Navy signee commenced to clear the deck with a load of 85-86 mph heaters in his three inning stint, freezing batters with his late breaking 12/6 curve. 

Paisley claimed the 6-0 shutout win and Elder took the save this afternoon. Eight Titans reached base today, and Riley Assiad and Utermark collected two hits apiece. Hidden Valley’s powerful pitching staff will be a force to reckon with in the upcoming post season, just ask the Cave Spring Knights.