Bearcats Post Key Clinch Mountain District Win over Gate City

BRISTOL, Va. – What do you get when you cross Jon Bon Jovi’s music with both a high leg kick and pinpoint, yet aggressive accuracy?
How about a tad more uncertainty in the Clinch Mountain District regular-season race?

Behind stellar six-hit, complete-game tossing from starter Josh Paolucci, an effort that featured eight strikeouts, host Virginia High kept its hopes alive for a three-way tie for the district crown by knocking off front-runner Gate City 5-2 Wednesday at DeVault Stadium.

With temperatures slowly lending themselves to ideas of sandy summer vacations, Virginia High’s final four-game philosophy, according to VHS coach Mark Daniels, has harkened back to the successful Mingo Bay Classic played in warmer South Carolina four weeks ago. During that five-game outing, the Bearcats (13-5, 4-2) posted a lofty 4-1 record, ultimately reaching the tourney finals.

“Going into this week, we wanted to go back to when we were at the beach,” Daniels said. “We played really well there. And so far, we’re off to a good start, but we’ve got two more games.”

Though it was all about the four-year veterans on Senior Night, the sophomore Paolucci turned the critical district showdown into an underclassman affair. With Gate City (14-4, 6-1) putting runners on base in all but one frame, Paolucci saved his best stuff for the stretch offerings – picking up four of his eight punchouts with runners aboard.

“[Paolucci] did a good job of keeping us off-balance,” said Gate City coach Robbie Perry, whose squad broke Paolucci’s shutout bid thanks to a sixth-inning RBI single from Aaron Stokes. “We took too many called third strikes, and you’ve got to swing the bat there.”

Delivering a 97-pitch masterpiece with the notes from the aforementioned New Jersey lead singer dotting the loudspeakers between innings, Paolucci’s cutting inside fastball – along with his sweeping curve that ate away at the outside corner – helped stymie the Blue Devil bats.

“That’s what I usually try to do,” said the Bon Jovi fan, who walked just one. “If I know that the ump is going to call it on the corner, I usually try to hit that spot. Plus, I felt like this was similar to the last game that I pitched.”

The Bearcats’ right-hander – now 4-0 on the season – stranded runners in scoring position over the final three innings, getting Dustin Jones to fly out for the complete-game win. Should Jones have reached, Wes Hughes would have represented the potential tying run for Gate City.
“He’s what the word pitcher is all about,” Daniels said. “He hit his spots. He kept a very good hitting Gate City team off-balance all night.”

Casey Stallard’s RBI double put the Bearcats on the board in the second, while teammate Dale Stine added an RBI groundout for a 2-0 advantage. A delayed double-steal from Stallard and Tyler Arnold later in the frame pushed home a crucial third run for the Bearcats.

Arnold, meanwhile, continued the good works of the lower half of the VHS order, dropping a perfect squeeze in the fourth to bring home a hard-charging Cody Read (2-for-3, two runs).
Jordan Estepp and Luke Kirk each supplied two hits for the Blue Devils, who still control their destiny. A win Friday at Kingsport’s Hunter Wright Stadium against Lebanon will secure the outright district title.
“We’ve had some distractions and we’re doing our best to try and keep their heads in the game,” Perry said. “But we’re playing for a championship Friday night.
"It’s ours to win.”Should VHS obtain road wins today (Lee High) and Friday (John Battle), the Bearcats will be very much interested about the developments inside Hunter Wright Stadium.
“We’re huge Lebanon Pioneer fans now, especially on Friday night,” Daniels said.

Gate City 000 001 1–2 6 2
Virginia High 030 110 x–5 4 3
Kirk, Hughes (4) and Miller. Paolucci and Chafin. W – Paolucci (4-0). L – Kirk (7-1). HR – None.