On April 4, Godwin baseball fell to Freeman 3-1 in a low scoring affair behind the pitching of Daniel Lynch and Miller Trevvett.
The first inning was dominated by pitching after Godwin senior starting pitcher David Parkinson and Freeman starting pitcher Lynch, a UVA recruit, both threw a perfect inning.
One inning later the Freeman line-up scored all the runs they were to need. Parkinson allowed a single up the middle and then everything seemed to unravel from there. The next batter was walked and the following batter reached on an error, loading the bases. Parkinson then delivered a huge strikeout for the second out, but followed that with a critical walk, forcing in a run and extending the inning.
The next batter lined the ball into the outfield to score Freeman’s final two runs of the game. Finally, Parkinson was able to end the inning after Jack Gerstenmaier, another UVA commit, grounded out.
In the second inning, the Eagles could not manage to get on base again, but in the third, Parkinson was able to bounce back from the disastrous second inning, allowing zero runs.
Batting ninth in the line-up, Godwin sophomore Conor Nolan came up to bat in the third inning appearing in his first Godwin Freeman game. Nolan drew a walk and became the first runner to reach first base against Lynch. “It was a learning experience. You never really comprehend how big a game it is until you are thrown right into it, but it felt great to get on base, especially against a rival school like Freeman,” Nolan said.
Later in the inning, Nolan advanced to second on a balk, but the Eagles were not able to take advantage of their first opportunity with a runner in scoring position.
In the fifth, Freeman appeared to be primed to score at least another run with runners on first and second and no outs. Parkinson, knowing that he could not widen Freeman’s lead, needed a double play, and that is exactly what he received. After the vital double play, Freeman had a runner on third with two outs in the inning, but Parkinson escaped the inning after getting the batter to fly out.
Up until the fifth inning, Lynch had not given up a hit. In the fifth, senior A.J. Perkins ended Lynch’s campaign for a no-hitter with a single up the middle. “It was really cool to say I broke up a no hitter, but it would have been even better if we got the win,” said Perkins.
Junior Matthew Jones drew a walk after Perkins’ single which advanced Perkins into scoring position with zero outs. Lynch came up big for the Rebels as he did the entire game by striking out the next three batters.
After a stellar outing by Parkinson, Godwin senior Michael Maynes came in to relieve Parkinson in the sixth. Parkinson finished the night with five innings pitched, five hits allowed, and three runs allowed.
Maynes started off shaky by loading the bases, but recovered without allowing a run, keeping hope of a possible comeback.
In the sixth inning, Freeman made a pitching change as well when Radford commit Trevvett was called in to replace Lynch. Trevvett picked up right where Lynch left off after getting two straight outs. Godwin junior Caleb Butler came up to bat next and reached on an error, then sophomore Chris Minneci reached on an error, and Perkins loaded the bases courtesy of the third straight Freeman error.
The game was now in reach for the Eagles, but Jones was unable to score the runners, and the inning was over.
Maynes was able to produce another scoreless inning in the seventh largely thanks to Jones’ diving catch in left field that would have advanced the runner to third base.
In the final inning, the Eagles were in striking distance yet again. Nolan and junior Ryan Grubbs reached base with infield hits. Junior Zach Gutzmer then advanced the runners on a groundout to the pitcher. The Eagles had runners on second and third with two outs.
Trevvett made it interesting after his wild pitch which scored the Eagles’ only run of the game, but he came back with a strikeout to close it.
“Freeman is one of the top two teams in the Richmond area based on their talent and experience. Even though we lost, we gained a great deal of experience and confidence from the game,” said Godwin head coach John Fletcher.
