With season coming to close, a look back on Aaron, Ladd, Moore, Crowl’s seasons as Danville Otterbots
Usually when Carrington Aaron and Jake Moore share the baseball diamond with Raymond Ladd, it’s as opponents with Aaron and Moore staring at Ladd from Chatham’s dugout and Ladd staring right back from Tunstall’s. While spring is considered the season of change, this summer has brought Aaron, Moore and Ladd a different perspective …
Usually when Carrington Aaron and Jake Moore share the baseball diamond with Raymond Ladd, it’s as opponents with Aaron and Moore staring at Ladd from Chatham’s dugout and Ladd staring right back from Tunstall’s.
While spring is considered the season of change, this summer has brought Aaron, Moore and Ladd a different perspective.
Instead of Aaron and Moore having to look out across the field to see Ladd, they’ve only had to turn to their right or left to celebrate a big play or share a funny joke or anecdote with their friend and former competitor.
Aaron, Moore and Ladd, along with former Franklin County standout Preston Crowl, have been living an endless summer together, competing as members of the 2023 Danville Otterbots.
When Moore drove in four runs on three hits and Aaron collected a pair of RBI on two hits in the Otterbots’ rout of the Pulaski River Turtles June 8, Ladd and Crowl were there to celebrate. When Ladd recorded his first save against the Greeneville Flyboys June 17, Aaron, Moore and Crowl were right there. When Crowl got his first win on the bump against the Sock Puppets July 19, yep, Aaron, Ladd and Moore were by his side.
In an ironic twist, when the four show up to their respective colleges in a few weeks, things will change once again as Ladd and Moore will team up at Radford University while Aaron and Crowl will join each other at Virginia Tech. While neither Radford or Tech have released their official 2024 schedules, the two teams met twice last season with the Hokies taking the first contest, 17–2, and the Highlanders taking the second, 16–8. Given this, and the fact the teams have met on a consistent basis since 1989, Ladd and Moore and Aaron and Crowl will see each other quite a bit.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, let’s take a look at the kind of seasons each has heading into Danville’s season-finale against the Bluefield Ridge Runners tonight.
IT’S THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH INNING of the Otterbots’ season opener against the Burlington Sock Puppets June 6. Santiago Ordonez has just gotten the ‘Bots on the board with his RBI single to left field and Crowl steps up to the plate and keeps the rally going, smacking a single to center that scores Zak Rice and pulls Danville within 3–2 for his first hit and RBI as an Otterbot. In the end, it’s not enough to lift the ‘Bots to the win but Crowl has gotten his career started.
Flash forward a day later. It’s the bottom of the fifth of Danville’s tilt against the Sock Puppets June 7. With his team holding a 4–1 lead, Aaron steps up to the plate and smacks a single to left, giving him his first career hit as a Bot.
The same night, Ladd gets Vincent Fattore to strike out looking in the top of the sixth for his first strikeout in a Danville uniform.
Jump ahead to Danville’s tilt against the Pulaski River Turtles June 8. It’s the top of the fourth. Not long after Aaron has recorded his first RBI as an Otterbot, Moore steps up to the plate looking for his first career hit. Moore finds it and more, delivering a base knock to left that plates Tre Keels with Moore’s first RBI on his first hit.
WHEN AARON WOKE UP JULY 19, he had no idea of the news that awaited him. Just a few hours after waking up, Aaron learned he was one of three Danville players to be named to the 2023 Appalachian League East Division’s All-Star roster.
He joined Jordan Taylor and Michael Callan Moss as the trio of ‘Bots who were selected to the team.
Aaron has had an all-star season as he currently sits fourth on the team in stolen bases with 11 in 14 attempts, fifth in batting average (.284) and tied for fifth in on-base percentage (.411). The Virginia Tech commit has recorded at least two hits in six games this season and has driven in at least two runs three times. He recorded a pair of hits against Pulaski (June 8), Bluefield (June 11), Princeton (June 14), Kingsport (June 20–21) and Elizabethton (July 21).
While he was the only all-star of the three, Aaron isn’t the only local that’s stepped up for the Otterbots this season. Going into the final game of the season, Moore is currently tied for fourth with Jordan Taylor in RBI with 20 and is a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases. His average hasn’t been quite what he wanted at .216 but he drove in a game-high four runs against Pulaski (June 8) and recorded the walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning that lifted Danville to a crucial win over Burlington July 19. In addition, he drove in two runs in games against Johnson City (June 30), Pulaski (July 6) and Princeton (July 16).
Ladd currently sits sixth on the team in strikeouts with 22 in 14.1 innings pitched. He sports a 4.40 ERA in seven appearances and picked up his first save against Greeneville (June 17), closing down the ninth in the Otterbots’ 5–3 win.
Crowl has been a multi-tool guy for the ‘Bots this season, showing off both in the field and on the mound. Entering tonight’s season finale, Crowl has thrown nine innings of shutout ball while striking out eight in nine appearances. He earned his first save July 6, closing down the ninth in Danville’s 5–2 win over Pulaski and picked up first win after retiring three of the four batters he faced in the ninth to help the Otterbots defeat the Sock Puppets, 8–7, July 19.
This story will be updated with quotes and an additional section later this week.
