The Raiders improved their record to 4-2 with their most complete win of the season, defeating Freedom in a rematch 10-6. The Raiders scored quickly and often, led by Steven Hildner with 4 goals and an assist, Matt Gribbin with 2 goals, Patrick Joseph with 2 goals, Drayke Mash with a goal and 2 assists, Evan O'Hara with 3 assists and Sinclair Williams with his first goal of the season. The Raiders dominated the face offs with 7 won by Hildner. Austin Kirkpatrick, Zach Lunsford and Matt Arneson were stingy on defense not allowing the Freedom players many clear shots. Both goalies, Calvin Oesterblad and Michael Garramone, made several saves to keep the Eagles from getting back into the game. Next up George Mason away on April 22.

After a tough loss to Battlefield, the Raiders came to play against a talented Briar Woods team. Despite some spirited play by the Raiders, that included some tenacious play on defense by Austin Kirkpatrick and Matt Arneson, the Raiders fell to Briar Woods 7-5. Evan O'Hara led the team with three goals. Also scoring was Justin England and Matt Gribbin. Michael Garramone lead the team with 12 saves.

Justin England spotted the Raiders the lead with two quick goals, followed by goals by Drayke Mash and Matt Gribbin. Freedom came back to tie the game with just over three minutes remaining at 4-4. Both goalies, Oesterblad and Garramone, made several key saves to keep the score knotted, and a big hit by Matt Lancaster saved an almost sure goal. With three minutes to go and the score tied, Jack Webber scooped a ground ball and found Drayke Mash sprinting down the middle of the field. Mash scored his second of the game to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead that they held onto for the win.

The Lady Raiders JV softball team came up short when it faced the Cougars of Kettle Run High School in a double-header April 14 at LCHS.

 With incredibly aggressive base-running, the Cougars managed to hit the five-run limit for three of the five innings of the first game.

They were held to one run in the first inning with Ashley Schechter in centerfield and Vivian Santos at second base each catching fly balls.  The third out was made when Vivian snagged a ground ball and threw it to Samm Rorke on first. 

Right fielder Laura Mills made the only out of the second inning with a replay-worthy backhanded running catch.  She made a similar, though less dramatic, catch in the third inning.  Megan Sullivan also caught a pop-up near third base.  The Cougars dominated both innings, reaching the five-run limit both times. 

The Cougars hit the limit again in the fourth inning, bringing the score to 16 to 1.  The Raiders answered by hitting the limit themselves, bringing home Samm, Nia Farmer, pitcher Sierra Jackson, Megan and Valerie Evans. 

No more runs were made by either team in the fifth, leaving the final score at Cougars 16, Raiders 6.

The Raiders managed to slow the Cougars’ pace in the second game.  They held their opponents to only two runs in the first two innings.    Pitcher Valerie Evans struck out one batter in the first inning and all three batters of the second inning.  She and Vivian Santos also caught infield pop-ups in the first to keep the scoring down.

The Raiders made it to the scoreboard in the third inning when Hannah Testerman drilled a double to left centerfield and was brought in with a RBI single by Vivian.  Unfortunately, the Cougars again made the five-run limit, including a three-run homerun, to bring the score to 7 to 1.

In the fourth inning, the Raiders added three more runs by Samm, Laura and Sierra.  The inning ended with the Cougars hitting the five-run limit again.

The game ended with the Raiders being shut-out in the top of the fifth inning.  The final score was Cougars 12, Raiders 4.

Author: Rene' Rodgers

Four innings of shutout pitching by Cabot Phillips and an error-free effort in the field paved the way for a 13-2 victory over the Heritage Pride that leveled the local derby honors.

Starting for the Raiders:

• Josh Martin (2)
• Cabot Phillips (1)
• Devin Guthrie (5)
• Ethan Carlyon (3)
• Hudson Phillips (7)
• Patrick van Nuys (9)
• Steven Veschi (8)
• Ryan Wilson (4)

For the Pride:

• Travis Burke (4)
• Lorenzo Calderon (8)
• Dalton Scanlon (1)
• Drew Woodford (9)
• Nick Studebaker (3)
• Hunter Oke (2)
• Cameron Bell (DH)
• Matt Chapman (7)
• Tyler Kobylinski (6)
• Camden Abbey (5)

The Pride had convincingly won the first encounter and were coming off an impressive 9-2 win over Potomac Falls and had high hopes of taking the win. They got off to a flying start when Dalton Scanlon had Josh Martin line out to right field to rack up out number 1. He was unlucky not to have the Raiders two down when Cabot Phillips popped one deep to left field but the catch could not be made and he found himself safe at first. New batter Devin Guthrie battled hard with Scanlon taking the count to 3-2 before drawing a walk. Scanlon then had Carlyon down on strikes to have the Raiders two shy. Hudson Phillips advanced brother Cabot and teammate Guthrie when he singled through short. van Nuys took advantage of a throwing error from third to get to first and, in doing so, scored Cabot. With runners on 1st and 3rd Ballinger delivered a run by singling to center that brought in Guthrie and advanced van Nuys. Veschi added to the tally when he doubled to deep center, bringing in van Nuys and Ballinger. Scanlon continued to focus on his task and had the third out when Wilson grounded out to short for the 6-3.

Cabot Phillips had been giving the starting honors for the Raiders and got off to a great start when he had Burke flyout to deep center and Calderon ground out for a 4-3. The only blemish was in an infield single to 2nd by his opposite number, Scanlon. Phillips saw off this threat when he retired Woodford on strikes.

After 1 inning the score stood at 5-0.

Scanlon, who had been pitching well, registered the first out of the half inning when Martin popped out to Burke at second. He had Cabot Phillips 0-2 before he left one a little high that his opposing pitcher took full advantage of tripling to center. Guthrie did his job, scoring Phillips with a sacrifice fly. Scanlon recovered and chalked up the third out when Carlyon was retired 6-3.

Heritage continued to make contact with the ball but were not able to do so safely. Studebaker was the first out when he grounded out 4-3. Oke looked to kickstart the offense with a strong single to left field. He advanced to second on a past ball with Bell at bat. Phillips reloaded and retired Bell on strikes and then closed the innings as Chapman hit strongly but straight to the shortstop Ballinger who had no difficulty in converting the 6-3.

Scanlon put the brakes on the Raider scoring with pitches that he kept low that took the corners. Hudson Phillips and van Nuys both were down on strikes. Ballinger's infield single to third and a Veschi walk put the Raiders into scoring position but another K by Scanlon extinguished the threat.

Phillips returned and kept the Pride scoreless, helping his own cause with a reflex catch from lead off Troy Kobylinski. Burke singled to left to get to first. Calderon then found a pitch to his liking and whacked it strongly. Only a web-gem deserving catch by center-fielder Veschi, who laid out to take a screamer, robbed the Pride of their first run. Calderon was understandably disappointed, Veschi elated, and Phillips grateful. The crowd too, appreciated both the hit and the catch. Scanlon took the count to 3-2 before flying out to deep right, terminating the Heritage half inning.

After 3, the Raiders led 6-0.

The top of four proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Pride. Martin got the Raiders off and running with a single to left. Cabot Phillips advanced Martin to third on a single to right which drew a throw that went astray; scoring Martin and allowing Phillips to make second. An aggressive Phillips, however, was found short of his ground attempting to advance when he was gunned down by Oke 2T5. An error permitted Carlyon to make it to first to restart the Raider threat. Hudson Phillips placed a little Texas-leaguer behind second to advance Carlyon from first to third. With runners on first and third van Nuys deliverd a single that scored Carlyon. Heritage coach Kaplan called time and made some defensive changes: Owen Gotimer entered the game for Chapman; Calderon moved to left, Scanlon to center, leaving Gotimer to take on the pitching duties (for those numerically inclined: 7 to 1, 1 to 8, 8 to 7). A wild pitch and a past ball allowed Phillips to score and van Nuys to advance to third. Gotimer was unlucky not to bring the Raider half-inning to a close but for an error that scored van Nuys and had Ballinger safe at first. Judd entered the game for Veschi and singled to right. Mike Love, entering for Wilson, hit the ball hard but straight to Kobylinski at short for the 6-3 and the third out.

Phillips returned for the bottom of the fourth and battled hard with Drew Woodford who came out on top as he singled to center. Phillips evidently took this as some sort of affront as he proceeded to retire the next two batters, Studebaker and Oke before having Gloger (in for Abbey) hit into a 4-6FC that retired Woodford.

With Brandall Peters in for Burke and Schueyler Francis in for Kobylinski, Gotimer returned to the mound. Martin got the inning started with a single to left. Shane Casbeer, batting for Cabot Phillips, took the count deep before being retired on strikes by Gotimer. An infield single by Ryan Landes advanced Martin to third. Ethan Carlyon joined the RBI-club with a double to center. Hudson did likewise on a 4-3FC which saw Carylon score. Jake Wright also went 4-3 but was the final out.

Reid Frazier came into the relieve Cabot Phillips and had Gotimer ground out on a well-hit but direct shot to short for the 6-3. Francis was out number two when he popped one just behind second who took the catch. Brandall Peters expoited his opportunity at bat when he tripled to center field. Zach Turner was able to convert the first Heritage run as he doubled to center field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch before being brought home by new batter Peter Sotos who also took a liking to center when he singled there. Eddie Lang came in for Woodford and latched on to one he liked the look of and also sent it towards center. The ball was hit with venom but the center fielder was able to round on it and take a solid catch to terminate the inning and to bring the game to a close.

In what is proving to be a long rebuilding season for the Raiders boys tennis team, spirited play against the Falcons wasn’t quite enough as the Falcons won the team match by a score of 6-3. The Raiders matches though were anchored by strong wins at the #1 singles and doubles slots as well as at the #6 singles. Senior Chris Czupak picked up an important Dulles district win at the # 1 slot, defeating the Falcons Airam Mitchel by a score of 8-3. Chris held every service game and broke Mitchel three times, in a match that was won with a dominating serve and aggressive net play. At the #6 singles slot, senior Daniel Seifert added to his career win column by a comfortable 8-3 margin. In the #1 doubles matchup, Chris teamed with the Raiders #2 player, senior Andrew Sinden, and the pair cruised to an 8-3 victory.

The Raiders are again on the road for their next match this Monday against Freedom.

Match Scores (Raiders vs. Falcons):

Singles:

#1 Chris Czupak vs. Airam Mitchel (W – 8-3)

#2 Andrew Sinden vs. James Lunsford (L - 0 – 8)

#3 Greg D’Alessio vs. Gautam Kanumura (L – 3-8)

#4 Seth Latka vs. Chris Ciullo (L – 3-8)

#5 A. J. Neuharth-Keusch vs. Vishon Gopalakrishnaan (L – 0-8)

#6 Daniel Seifert vs. Ryan Ranther (W- 8-3)

Doubles:

#1 Czupak/Sinden vs. Lunsford/Gopalakrishnaan (W – 8-3)

#2 D’Alessio/Trevor Barnard vs. Kanumura/Ciullo (L - 3-8)

#3 Darius Saedi/Andrew Flynn vs. Mitchel/Ranther (L – 2-8)

Last night’s game was a game that quickly started out goal for goal between the Raiders and the Eagles, and it seemed to have ended just as fast; with a heartfelt loss of 9-12.  Scoring for the Raiders included Sydney Hewartson (3G, 2 A), Rachel Solis (3G, 1A), Hannah Young (1), Caila Cummings (1G, 1A) and Hannah Arnold (1G, 1A).  Kasey Fletcher also helped out with one assist on the offensive end.  With great stick skills the Raiders had a total of 19 ground balls last night H. Arnold with 7, followed by S. Hewartson’s 4, H. Young’s 3, and R. Solis  and  Haley Knudsen each with 2. 

With sticks up and ready to force a turnover, the Raider’s defense was held strong by Caila Cummings with the majority of the 6 interceptions.  Haley Knudsen helped out immensely with her interceptions, ground balls and tight defense on the Eagle’s attack in efforts to stop shots made on Raider goalie Jessie Joseph who had 10 saves last night.  Jaci Shepherd had 2 takeaways herself and never once let up on her defensive edge over the Eagles.  Although the outcome wasn’t what the team was looking for, they will be ready to fight back for their next game.  The Raiders are currently 1-1 in the Dulles District and will play Battlefield at home tonight at 6:00. 

The Raiders' bats were silent Wednesday night as Loudoun County was limited to only 4 hits and left 10 runners on base and lost to Kettle Run 8-1 in Nokesville in a non-district contest.

The Raiders' lone run came in the top of the second inning when the Raiders took advantage of a Cougar error to place Nick Fisher on base.  A walk and two sacrifice at bats allowed the runner to score.  All other scoring threats came up empty.

Starter Tyler Saleck held the Kettle Run out of the run column until the bottom of the 5th inning when the Cougars put together a run of hits and long fly balls to score 3 runs.  It was all the runs they would need.  Nick Collins finished the game on the mound giving up 5 more runs.

The Raiders' overall record stands at 4 wins and 5 losses.  Their next game will be this Saturday afternoon at home as they take on Bridgeport (WV).  Game time is 1 PM.

The Loudoun County Raiders played a rare twi-night doubleheader versus the Kettle Run Cougars on April 14th.  Unfortunately the Raiders were swept by the Cougars by 6-2, 6-4 scores.  Freshman Kiley Jacobus led the Raiders at the plate going 3-7 for the evening with a double, triple, 3 Rbi's and 2 runs. She was tagged with the loss though in the first game. Erin Ertel also had a solid night as she went 2-5 with 2 runs and an Rbi. Also with hits for the Raiders on the chilly evening were Katie Graff with a double and a run scored, Katelyn Packard, who also had a Rbi, Senior Melissa Conway picked up her first hit of the season for the Raiders in the night cap.  Alex Petruzzo and Kelley Duerbeck rounded out the hits for Loudoun County. This brings the Raiders to 4-4 (1-1 District) for the season.  The Raiders now take a much needed break after playing 4 games in 3 days and return to District action at Potomac Falls on Tuesday April 20th at 6 PM.

Author: Ray Aubel

The Boys Tennis team dropped a 6-3 match to the Vikings of Loudoun Valley this afternoon. Despite the team loss, the match was very close, and several players had break out performances. Leading the charge was senior Greg D’Alessio notching big wins at the #3 singles and #2 doubles slots. Greg battled Viking Jake Seraphin in a back and forth match that included multiple deuce games, service breaks and aces. Neither player led by more than one game at any point. Trailing 8-7 and needing a win to stay in the match, Greg broke Jake after battling through two deuce games. Using the momentum to his advantage, Greg went on to win the tie-breaker 7-4. His tie-breaker win included two service breaks and three aces. This was a signature win for Greg as the Raiders enter the 2^nd half of Dulles District play tomorrow.

Greg teamed with senior Trevor Barnard at the #2 doubles slot to get his second win of the day by a convincing 8-3 score. Rounding out the wins for the Raiders was freshman Seth Latka who battled an upper classman for a gutsy 8-5 victory.

The Raiders continue Dulles play tomorrow in a key match up at Briar Woods.

Go Raiders!

Match Scores (Raiders vs. Vikings):

Singles:

#1 Chris Czupak vs. Noah Fenton (L – 1-8)

#2 Andrew Sinden vs. Brandon Deleonardes (L – 1-8)

#3 Greg D’Alessio vs. J.R. Franks (W – 9-8 (7-4))

#4 Seth Latka vs. R. Thakral (W – 8-5)

#5 A. J. Neuharth-Keusch vs. David Peworchik (L – 6-8)

#6 Daniel Seifert vs. Eric Driscoll (L - 3-8)

Doubles:

#1 Czupak/Sinden vs. Fenton/Deleonardes (L – 3-8)

#2 D’Alessio/Trevor Barnard vs. Seraphin/Driscoll (L - 6-8)

#3 Darius Saedi/Andrew Flynn vs. Riedel/Peworchik (W – 8-6)