Paksoy packs punch

  Staunton River got around to picking up its first baseball win of the season.

Mike Forster

Staunton River’s Cam Paksoy rears back to let one go during his no-hit performance against William Fleming.

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There was little doubt about this one:  Eagles 23, William Fleming 0.

Cam Paksoy led the way for Staunton River, picking up the win on a no-hitter in a mercy-rule shortened five-inning affair.

“I had planned on (Paksoy) throwing three innings,” said River Head Coach Brian Divers.  “But then I realized that I couldn’t take him out.”

In fact, the hard-throwing junior faced just one more than the minimum 15 batters.  Oddly, the guy that denied Paksoy his perfect game has a Staunton River connection.    Harold Cheridieu picked up a third-inning walk, the only Fleming batter to reach.  He’s the brother of Clarens Cheridieu, the head coach of the Staunton River boys soccer team.

After the game, Paksoy sounded as though he were untroubled by the walk.  He was certainly happy to throw the no-hitter.  His biggest thrill, though, came for a different reason.  “It’s better to get the team its first win,” said Paksoy.  “Hitting the ball like we did and our fielding will give us confidence.”

When it was pointed out that Paksoy had struck out nine Fleming batters and that nobody hit a ball out of the infield, negating to a large part the need for that fielding, he smiled and replied, “I knew they were there for me.”

The William Fleming pitchers were hard pressed to make such a statement.  That’s because the Colonels made a total of 12 errors in the field.  Seven of those miscues came in the third inning, when the Eagles built up a 15-0 lead.

Staunton River, meanwhile, belted out 16 hits for the game, with seemingly everyone getting into the act.

The stage was set early when Jarodd Nichols took the first pitch of the game deep into taterland.  The home run was the third for Nichols in his last two games.

Thomas Morris had a nice day at the plate.  The long drink of water had 3/4 of the cycle, getting a single, double and triple.  Together with Nichols, they completed a cycle.

Paul Williams mauled three doubles on a four-for-five performance.   “He’s playing his tail off,” said Divers of his sophomore catcher.

Wes Orfield went two-for-three to help out the cause. Staunton River picked up its second win of the year three nights later when it topped Heritage, 7-1, behind a stellar pitching performance by Mitchell Hullett.  who struck out seven over four innnings.

Patrick Love and Paksoy combined to finish off the game.  “We played well,” assessed Divers.  “The way I thought we would all year.”