Raiders get first series win

By SETH STRINGER

NICEVILLE – Six games into the season, Doug Martin's pitching staff has been filthy.

A .81 ERA, 11.77 strikeouts per nine innings and now 18 straight scoreless innings affirm that for the NWF State baseball team, which defeated West Georgia Tech 17-0 on Saturday for its first series win of the young season.

A 3-3 mark could very easily be 5-1 or 6-0 had it not been for some early hitting woes, but those deficiencies have disappeared over the current two-game winning streak.

After drawing eight walks and stringing together seven runs Friday night in a 7-0 win over West Georgia Tech, the Raiders exploded for 15 hits and drew 10 free passes in the 17-0 victory.

On a night when the Raiders erupted for nine runs in the sixth inning and six runs in the seventh, Mikey Madej went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, Brandon Riera went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, and KC Simonich drove in three. Jake Randa added two RBIs and reached base in three of his five trips to the plate and Justice Thompson, Kaden Polcovich and Blaine Smith each drove in a run for the Raiders.

That proved plenty for starter Will Moriarty and a perfect bullpen effort.

Moriarty struck out seven over four innings of two-hit ball for the win and Aljo Sujak, Matt Boswell, Marshall Hunt and Calvin Starnes combined for five scoreless innings while piling up seven strikeouts.

Sujak struck out his only batter and Boswell K'd a pair over one frame. Hunt struck out one over an inning and Starnes struck out three and walked a pair over 2 2/3 to close out the win.

The Raiders will look to continue the momentum Thursday against St. Johns River State College in Palatka. The next day they'll have a doubleheader in Palatka against Florence-Darlington and Miami Dade, followed by Saturday's neutral-site tilt against Miami Dade.