Eagles Bring the Wood, Sweep Skyline

Dan Wood’s 2 hit shutout helped the Richardson Eagles complete a series sweep of Skyline at The Nest last night. Senior DH Ryan Harding went 2-3 and SS Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo added 2 RBIs en route to a 5-0 victory.

But the night belonged to Wood, who threw the Eagles first complete game of the season and needed only 101 pitches along the way. Wood struck out 5, walked only 2, and threw over 61% of his pitches for strikes. He averaged fewer than 4 pitches per batter and Skyline hitters managed a meager .083 batting average against him. The performance was as clinical as it was efficient, as he tore through the Raider batting order.

The rest of the Eagles responded, providing run support and strong defense. Cardoza-Oquendo led the way, reminding all in attendance that last year’s district Defensive Player of the Year honors were well earned. Catcher Grant Roberts added yet another segment to his highlight reel with a 6^th inning gun-down of Skyline catcher Espinoza. As Espinoza broke for second base, the pitch dropped into the dirt, rebounded up off of Roberts chest and squirted up the 3^rd base line. Roberts shot out from behind the plate, grabbed the ball, and whirled 270 degrees to make a perfect throw arriving just ahead of the runner.

The bats rang all through the Richardson order, with base hits coming from, James Monroe, Grant Roberts, Caleb Combs, Harding, Cardoza-Oquendo, Mark Mercer and Grant Dodgen.

Cardoza-Oquendo extended his current hitting streak to 6 games, while Dodgen’s stands at 5 and Mercer’s is at 4. The trio have enjoyed a strong April, with Cardoza-Oquendo hitting .428, Mercer hitting .416 and Dodgen hitting .461 during the Eagles 4 game unbeaten run.

The win pulls Richardson level with W.T. White for the final playoff spot in District 9-6A. The Eagles face Berkner next week in a pair of must-win games.