No. 14 Woodstock Rallies Past Alpharetta
March 19, 2021
Alpharetta, Ga - The Alpharetta Raiders played host to No. 14 Woodstock Wolverines on Thursday evening. The game was a wild affair as Alpharetta jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first inning. But Woodstock rallied back, scoring 12 unanswered runs to take the game 13-6.
While the offensive onslaught of the Wolverines was impressive, the real story of the game was the pitching performance by freshman LHP Kevin Maurer (2024). Maurer entered the game in the bottom of the first with the two out and a man on second. Woodstock had already conceded six runs in the inning and were looking to stop the bleeding. The southpaw buckled down and got the fist batter he faced to fly out.
From there, Maurer was on cruise control. He virtually shut down the entire Alpharetta lineup. He did not allow a batter to reach third base until the seventh inning. Maurer did a great job of creating weak contact and mixing things up. He used his fastball to both sides of the plate, running it at 78-80. His curveball has sweeping action and he was not afraid to go inside with it. The curveball was especially effective early in the game. Maurer also mixed in a fading changeup. For the night, his final line read: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K.
Alpharetta built their early lead largely by capitalizing on Woodstock’s mistakes. They loaded the bases immediately through a walk, error and another walk. 3B Jack Barone (2021) tied the game up with a sac fly to right field. Another walk loaded the bases again, and then the Raider offense turned it on. C Haden Gupton (2022) knocked in two runs with a double in the right center gap. Then back-to-back singles by SS Ben Guthrie (2023) and OF Harrison Goldstein (2021) emptied the bases and gave Alpharetta a 6-1 lead.
Once Maurer entered the game, the dynamic completely changed. The Wolverine bats came alive. The second inning was Woodstock’s turn to capitalize on mistakes. Three straight walks to start the inning loaded the bases with no outs. SS Spencer Middleton (2021; Andrew JC) got the hit parade started with an RBI single up the middle. OF Andrew Ianitello (2022) and Gabe Wuerth (2022) followed suit with singles of their own. When the dust had settled, Woodstock had cut the lead to one run, trialing 6-5.
The Wolverines kept swinging it into the third inning where they were able to tie the game. C Lawton Bowers (2021) got things cooking with a single through the left-side. Then, with two outs, it was yet another Wolverine freshman who came up big. CIF Brooks McKenna (2024) lined the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a run scoring double, knotting the score at 6-6.
The hits kept coming in the fourth inning. Following a hit batsman and a walk, OF Kameron Douglas (2022; Georgia State) broke the game wide open. Douglas hammered a 3-2 pitch off the wall in right center to swing the game in Woodstock’s favor 8-6. The Wolverine bats were largely head in check in the fifth and sixth innings before another offensive explosion. Woodstock made sure to put the game out of touch with another five runs in the top of the seventh to make it 13-6.
No. 14 Woodstock is back in action this afternoon hosting Etowah, while Alpharetta travels to Cherokee.
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