Randolph-Henry High School’s second-seeded varsity baseball team proved resilient against visiting No. 10 Bruton High School on Thursday evening, winning 5-1 in the Region 2A quarterfinal game to advance to this week’s semifinals.

The Statesmen were set to host No. 6 King William High School on Tuesday evening.

Speaking moments after Thursday’s game, Randolph-Henry Head Coach Joshua Barmoy was pleased with his team’s approach to the regional contest.

“I was really impressed with the energy that we had,” he said. “We came out and gave up a run in the first inning, and we could have hung our heads, we could have really folded there, but on the flip side, we came back and matched them, and we were able to keep that energy up the entire game and make the plays in the field.”

Solid defense from the Statesmen proved to be key in advancing to the regional semifinals.

“That’s what really helped us out, making those plays behind Skylar (Lacks), who threw the ball extremely well, a one-hitter tonight,” Barmoy said. “And we got some key hits, but we had situations where we could have scored more, and we could have done more, so I’m not satisfied, but I am proud of the guys for playing extremely hard tonight.”

The coach specifically praised the defensive play of junior Andrew Leach.
“A.J. up the middle at shortstop did a tremendous job making some tough plays for us behind (Lacks),” Barmoy said. “If he doesn’t make those plays, it puts us in a tough situation with runners on base.”