The young Raiders of Midway Middle school closed out their 2017-18 baseball season undefeated, taking the regular seasion championship and the tournament title. They finished the year 13-0, with their final game being a 10-1 win over Roseboro-Salemburg to cap off the umblemished campaign.
“We went through the conference and finished 13-0, which is always a special thing to do,” said head coach Steven Tyler. “We had some good games this year with Sampson Middle and Roseboro-Salemburg but our guys were always up to play and we had an amazing season.”
The final game of the season saw Midway take down Roseboro-Salemburg. Caden Wilson, who was the Raiders MVP, was the winning pitcher. He finished the game allowing only three hits, gave up one run and had 14 strikeouts over all six innings.
Trey Gregory went 1-for-3 with a run, Grant Barefoot was 1-for-3 with three runs, Nate Smith was 2-for-3 with a run scored, Carson Barefoot was 1-for-2 with a run. More Raiders contributed to the huge win. Hunter Tyndall was 1-for-2 with a run scored, Matthew Waterman was 1-for-2 and Casey Culbreth was 1-for-4 with a run.
“We had to play some tough games year, especially in the tournament. We had Sampson in the first round, who had one of the best pitchers in the league,” said Tyler. “Then when we faced Roseboro and their pitcher, Trent Tanner, gave us some problems. We were down 1-0 in the first three innings, which was the first time we were behind all year.”
The win marks a huge milestone for the young Raiders. This championship makes the 1oth year in a row that they have won the conference and the tournament. With the season wrapped up, Tyler had a few final words to share.
“It’s exciting and means a lot to us — we just want these winning seasons to continue. Not just for middle school, but at the high school level too and we’re going to do what we can to keep things going,” remarked Tyler. “I also have to give thanks to my great coaching staff. I couldn’t do this without them.”