STANARDSVILLE – For both Tom Butterworth and Brandon Rutherford, it was the start they were looking for. Before Rutherford even took the mound his team had given him a quality lead. And from the first inning until the game was called in the sixth, the Madison County pitcher was lights out as he helped to lead the Mountaineers to a 10-0 victory over William Monroe. But it didn’t hurt that Madison got off to a quick start.
“I love to score first,” Butterworth said. “We’re always going to do anything we can to do that. We’ve been working on what runners to use to get there, but when you get a bomb, that’s always nice.”
In the game’s first at bat, Travis Warren led-off with a triple and put his team on the board just a few pitches later when he took home on a passed ball. Then after Collin Tucker drew a walk, Dylan Shifflette made the Greene Dragons pay as he unloaded on a Ryan Morris pitch to the tune of a 2-run homerun to left field.
Rutherford took over from that point on, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced. Over his six innings of work, the Mountaineer hurler gave up just four hits, all of them singles, and finished with seven strike outs, no walks and a complete game victory.
“Last year I was really nervous when I’d start off,” Rutherford said. “I found that you can’t be that way and you’ve got to get out there and just pitch and try to think about anything and go have fun. I think I’ve learned how to do that this year.”
And while Madison stymied the Monroe offense, they continued to add to their lead on an RBI triple from Tucker in the second and an RBI from Will Taylor on an error in the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, the Mountaineers were able to reach a 10-run lead as Warren and Tucker hit an RBI single and a 2-run single respectively before the Dragons walked in the remaining runs with the bases loaded.
Tucker finished the game 3 for 3, just a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle and had three RBIs and three runs scored. Warren went 2 for 3 with an RBI, three stolen bases and three runs scored. Shifflette was 3 for 4 with two RBIs.
“The hitting has been a lot more consistent lately,” Butterworth said. “It’s nice to see the things that you’ve been working on in practice finally playing out on the field in a game.”
And after playing up to but ultimately falling short against a strong Brentsville team the night before, Dragons coach Mark Arrington is looking for a spark to snap their skid. Since opening the season with a 10-0 win over Madison, Monroe has dropped five of its last six.
“We didn’t come to play today and it showed,” Arrington said. “Right now it’s about just doing the right things on the field. I don’t have 14 guys yet that want to do that, I’ve got about seven.”
Danny Morris was 1 for 3 on the day for the Dragons. Logan Forloines, Mitchell Morris and Jordan Gentry were each 1 for 2.
The Mountaineers (3-4) travels to Luray on Friday at 5 p.m.
The Dragons (2-5) head to Fluvanna County on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
