Owen opens season with loss to Erwin

Warhorses struggle at home, fall 16-4

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
March 3, 2022

The Owen baseball team received a warm welcome from its home crowd, March 2, when players took the field for their season opener. Visiting Erwin, however, was far less friendly. 

Despite an early lead, defensive struggles plagued the Warhorses throughout the night, as they fell, 16-4, to the Warriors.

The teams took the field under the bright afternoon sun, which wreaked havoc on Owen outfielders in the early innings. The Warhorses, behind starting pitcher Liam Gildner, took a 1-0 lead into the second inning.

Erwin jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the top of the second, boosted by a trio of fly balls that proved difficult to track for Owen outfielders. First-year head coach and former Montreat College pitching coach, Michael Bonifay, called on sophomore Aiden Warnock to relieve the junior starter to start the third, but the Warriors offense responded with a 4-run inning.

The Warhorses would cut the lead with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the third, but that’s all the Erwin pitching staff would allow. The Warriors added 7 more runs in the final three innings of play, opening their season with a non-conference victory on the road.

Owen, which returns from a 7-7 record and third place Western Highlands Conference finish in 2021, is entering the campaign with five seniors on the roster, including Briggs Barker, Cadyn Cook, Will Shaw, Sidney Stone and Brett Gaynor.

The Warhorses will look for the first win of the season at 5 p.m., Friday, March 4, when they host McDowell. The Patriots are 1-0, following a 3-1 victory over Patton, March 1.

Photos of the Owen Warhorses 2022 baseball season opener against Erwin can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.