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The Valley varsity baseball team once again struggled on defense in the Rams’ 15- 6 loss to Shaw on Friday.

Valley head coach Mike Meadows knows his team needs to cut down on mistakes.

“It’s just errors. You have to field the baseball,” Meadows said.

“You have to take pride in playing defense, and we don’t take pride in it right now.”

The first two innings were fairly uneventful as Valley’s catcher, Trevor Rudd, showed his skills on the mound.

The first three batters for Shaw all got field outs, and the Rams quickly got on offense.

Valley had a solid bottom of the first with a single from Cullen Kennedy and a double from Rudd, but Ashton Carter hit a pop out with two strikes and CJ Chambley on third base to end the inning.

The Valley defense continued to show some promise as the Pirates had three field outs in the top of the second.

Shaw’s defense stood tall in the bottom of the second after the Rams hit into a double play that ended the inning.

Valley had two hits and held the Pirates hitless after two innings, and the Valley defense held strong into the third.

Rudd had his first strikeout in the top of the third to close out the half inning.

Valley’s offense woke up in the bottom of the third as Mason Yarbrough doubled to give the Rams some momentum.

Meadows was pleased with Yarbrough’s batting ability.

“He does well for an eighth grader,” Meadows said.

“He does his job. It’s not too big for him.”

Valley followed up with a Jackson Sanders single that advanced Yarbrough to third base.

Cullen Kennedy hit an RBI single to bring Yabrough home, and the Rams broke the scoring drought for both teams.

After two straight outs, Ashton Carter singled to bring Kennedy home, and the Rams took a 2-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Shaw responded with one run in the top of the fourth after a Trevor Rudd strikeout was bobbled, and the Pirates scored from third.

The Rams went hitless in the bottom of the fourth, and things started to slip for Valley in the fifth.

Shaw had one hit before the top of the fifth, but the Pirates opened up with a single.

Rudd got another strikeout, and the Rams immediately forced a pop out.

With two outs, Shaw hit a single to tie the game at two runs.

The Pirates hit a double to score three more runs and then hit a single to make it 6-2 Shaw.

Kennedy came in for Rudd, but the Pirates hit two straight doubles to take a 9-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

The Rams opened the half inning with a Rudd single, and Chambley scored on a sacrifice fly.

The seventh inning was also the achilles’ heel of the Rams as Shaw scored five runs to take a 15-3 lead.