Red Raiders' Valincius Tosses One Hit Shutout

All 10 hitters that Baylor sent to the plate reached base at least once in Monday night's 12-0 run rule. Most of them found their way aboard through loud contact–very loud contact.

Three Baylor batters homered, including a pair of moonshots from third baseman Henry Ford, and an opposite-field blast from Tomas Valincius, Baylor's pitcher.

In the fourth inning, Valencius picked out an outside pitch and launched it down the left field line into the pine trees beyond the outfield fence, but even his power at the plate wasn't as impressive as his dominance on the mound.

Early on, while the sun was still shining, one man decided that the seating behind home plate wasn't his ideal view of this early-season matchup. Instead, he opted for an aerial view of the action by flying overhead with a motorized hang-glider that caused great curiosity from fans who pointed and guffawed at the unidentified flying baseball fan.

Whether you were soaring overhead like Orville Wright, lounging on the hood of a pickup truck beyond the outfield fence, or seated beneath a blanket behind home plate, you couldn't help but notice the strong pitching exhibition being put on by Valincius.

The tall left-hander struck out a dozen batters and allowed just one base-runner in his five innings of work that were nearly as consistent as they were efficient. Valincius tossed either nine, 10, or 11 pitches in each inning he threw, and struck out the side twice.

"Tomas was lights out on the bump," said Baylor co-head coach Greg Elie. "He's a special kid with a special arm so that was exciting," said Elie.

"I just feel confident," said Valincius. "All the hard work, all the team's input… we've just been working all year and we're ready. Anyone who comes towards us, we're ready for them," said Valincius.

The Red Raiders had 12 hits to match their 12 runs, four of them towering drives that left the park, but coach Elie was more pleased with his team's ability to manufacture runs than their ability to hit the long ball.

"That's what we do," said Elie. "We hammer baseballs and we try to have a really solid approach at the plate. Our approach was great today. We're going to leave the yard–we're strong guys. But to watch them go station to station and then get a sac-fly, that's perfect," said Elie.

Henry Ford's first-inning two-run shot got the scoring started, but his second two-run homer capped off a two-out rally which also included a long ball from leadoff hitter Amari Jefferson and gave his team an early six-run advantage that was more than enough to put this one out of reach.

Two-hole hitter John Emendorfer went three-for-three, and while Owl pitchers Carter Smith and Rhashaad Hinton battled, the big Baylor bats were too much for Ooltewah.

OOLTEWAH             0 0 0  0 0 X X  –   0    1  1

BAYLOR                   3 4 2  2 3 X X  – 12  12  0

Smith, Hinton (2) and Fields  ; Valincius and Whitcomb.

Baylor Run-Rules Ooltewah, 12-0 - Chattanoogan.com