Brody Raleigh ’23 had no hesitation in his voice when he said he had never hit for the cycle before Wednesday.
Now the Christ School senior can say with equal confidence that he has done it.
Brody’s second-inning grand slam sailed over the wall in left field and was one of the Greenies' 15 hits in a season-opening 22-0 shutout of Mountain Heritage. He attacked the cycle in this order – double, triple, home run, and single – in a home game that was called early for the mercy rule.
“It’s my senior year and I’m hoping to have a good year with these guys, so I’m happy to start the season off this way,” Brody said.
“Being a captain, I know that every guy on this team wants to win. We’ve had more than 90 (offseason) practices and every day we’ve come in with energy and focus. There were times where I thought that guys might even want to quit because it got so hard, but tonight is a credit to them.”
Brody started at second base Wednesday and has signed with Western Carolina University. He finished with a team-high 26 RBIs last season and already has six for this year after his big night. The single on Wednesday just missed being another grand slam.
Ethan Rose ’24 matched Brody by going 4-for-4, to go along with four RBIs. Jonathan Reece ‘25 was 2-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs, Jakob Iwanek ’24 went 2-2 with two RBIs, Wells Alderman ’26 was 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs, Jake Gravley ’24 was 1-2 with a double, and leadoff Matthew Hammel ’23 drew three walks.
The Greenies (1-0) batted around twice in putting up 14 runs in the second inning.
Junior right-hander Charlie Collins ’24 got the start on Opening Day – 2.0 innings pitched, no runs, one hit, one walk, and six strikeouts – before being relieved by Ethan and his younger brother, Luka Rose ’25. Of the 21 pitches thrown by the Rose brothers, 16 were strikes.
The Greenies played an error-free game in the field.
"Anytime you can start the season with such a total team effort is great," Coach Wesley King said.
"Tonight is a testament to the work and time they've put in during the offseason. Overall, we're excited about the start and looking forward to seeing if we can keep it going."
Christ School’s next game should be decidedly tougher – the Greenies travel to Covenant Day on Friday for a JV/Varsity doubleheader that begins at 4:30. Covenant beat the Greenies, 10-1 in last year’s first round of the NCISAA 4-A state playoffs.
JV Greenies 6, Mountain Heritage 5
John Carre ’25 scored the winning run on a fourth-inning balk, then turned around and struck out three Mountain Heritage batters to clinch Wednesday’s victory for JV Baseball.
Sawyer King ‘27 was 2-2 with a stolen base. Riley Shuler ‘25 drove in a team-high two runs with a triple.