A little Season Opener write up by our very own reporter, David Andreatta!
After shaking off a shaky first inning, Fairport pitcher Nate VanDeVoorde dominated on the mound for the Red Raiders to kickstart the 2024 baseball season with a 3-1 win over Bandys High School out of Catawba, North Carolina.
VanDeVoorde held Bandys to just one run over 5 2/3 innings and chalked up eight strikeouts with fastballs that were virtually untouchable and a change up that kept the competition off balance.
He got help offensively from a combination of Raiders, including an RBI-triple from shortstop Jackson Rucker and an RBI-double from outfielder Sam Miller. Miller also scored on a passed wild pitch walk to Will Stanek in the bottom of the fifth.
The game was played under a sunny morning sky and a comfortable 70 degrees at The Ripken Experience sports complex in Myrtle Beach, where the Red Raiders have opened their season for decades.
The real story, though, wasn’t the weather or the action on the base paths. It was on the mound.
VanDeVoorde stayed calm and cool during his run from the rubber, throwing 91 pitches, including 62 for strikes that mostly baffled batters. The senior, who has committed to play for SUNY Oneonta next season, allowed five hits and just one walk before being relieved by rookie Nick Rene, who picked up right where VanDeVoorde left off.
Rene, a junior, struck out the first batter he faced to close out the sixth inning.
He later returned in the seventh to strikeout two batters and pick off another who was HBP to close out the game.
The Red Raiders next take the field Tuesday morning, when they face St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute from Buffalo in a scrimmage.
