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(May 26, 2010) - On paper the eight Dulles District semifinal contests Tuesday night in baseball, softball and soccer looked like a slam dunk for the home teams as they had a combined 15-0-1 record in the regular season against their foes, but the road teams were up to the task, going 4-for-8, including Loudoun County High School's 4-1 upset over baseball No. 1 seed Potomac Falls.
The Raiders surprising win leaves Thursday's district final at Freedom High School, between No. 4 seed Loudoun County and No. 2 Broad Run, a 10-0 winner over Briar Woods Tuesday, as not only a title game but also a playin game for the second Region II bid. Potomac Falls advances as the regular season champion.
Since three regular-season champions -- Broad Run boys and girls soccer and Briar Woods softball -- all took care of business Tuesday, three other teams clinched regional bids with wins Tuesday, all of them No. 3 seeds on the road as Park View ended Broad Run's three-year AA state title run with a 7-1 win; Potomac Falls boys soccer edged Loudoun County, 2-1; and Loudoun County girls soccer came from behind, erasing a 2-0 deficit with only 18 minutes to play, to stun Freedom, 3-2.
Looking to add tournament titles to their regular-season crowns, Briar Woods softball shutout Loudoun County, 3-0, with sophomore Macy Jones setting a school record with 18 strikeouts; Broad Run girls soccer edged Potomac Falls, 1-0; and Broad Run boys soccer beat Park View, 3-1.
All the finals are at Freedom with softball and girls soccer starting at 6 p.m., baseball at 7 p.m. and boys soccer following the girls game, between 7:45 and 8 p.m.
The Skinny on the Dulles District Semifinals
Baseball
Broad Run 10, Briar Woods 0 (5)
The Skinny: Junior Taylor Clarke had an outstanding performance on the mound for the Spartans striking out 10 in five innings of work. Clarke allowed two hits and no walks on the evening. With the win, Clarke improves to 8-1 with one Save on the year for the Spartans, who are now 17-4 as a team.
Offensively, several Spartans had big nights at the plate. Senior Shane Vlasic broke the game open in the third inning with a 3-run home run to right. On the night, Vlasic had three hits and five RBIs. Junior Ryan Johnston had a big night as well with a double and a 2-run home run over the left field fence in the fifth inning. Junior Shea Bargiel had three hits and two runs scored on the night, and junior Zach Rawson added two hits as well.
Loudoun County 4, Potomac Falls 1
The Skinny: The Raiders became the first Dulles District team to beat the Panthers since 2008 by playing an error-free game while taking advantage of timely hits, three Panther errors and the 2-hit pitching of junior Taylor Cokeley.
The Raiders scored two runs in the third and two more in the fifth. In the third, junior Henry Massey and senior Matt Cunningham both walked to start the inning. Cokeley then singled to load the bases. Massey scored on a passed ball, and Cunningham scored on a fielder's choice.
In the fith inning, Massey again walked to start things. He reached third after an errant pick off attempt and scored on a Cunningham single. Cunningham then moved around to third base on two more passed balls and scored on another errant throw, this one on a checked swing bunt by senior Kelly Drews.
Taylor Cokeley had three hits, a double and two singles. Besides Cunningham, the only other hit by the Raiders was a double by junior Kris Pratt.
The defense was solid behind Cokeley who only gave up two hits to the dangerous hitting Panthers. He recorded four strikeouts and got out of jams in the fourth and seventh.
Softball
Briar Woods 3, Loudoun County 0
The Skinny: Sophomore Macy Jones tossed a one-hitter with a school-record 18 strikeouts and also drove in the winning run in a three-run sixth inning as top-seeded Briar Woods blanked No. 5 Loudoun County.
The game proved to be a true pitcher's duel as Jones and Raider freshman Kiley Jacobus matched each other through five scoreless innings.
Jones retired the first 13 Raiders she faced -- including 12 via strikeout, while Jacobus only allowed two-out singles in the second and third. Jones walked to lead off the fourth and moved to second on a sacrifice by junior Kasey Ball, but Jacobus ended the threat with a pair of fly outs.
Loudoun County got its lone hit of the evening with one out in the fifth, but Jones struck out the next two batters to avoid trouble.
The Falcons finally broke through against Jacobus in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Holly Dominguez beat out a single to short to open the frame, and junior Kristina Karagiorgis moved Dominguez to second with a sacrifice bunt. Jones then dumped a single into left field to plate Dominguez with the game's first run, with Jones moving to second on an outfield error on the play.
Senior Kate Fowler then followed with a grounder to short that was misplayed. Jones raced to third on the error and continued home, and the throw to the plate was high and allowed Fowler to advance to second. Fowler then took third on a passed ball and later scored on a ground out by Ball.
Jones fanned the first two Raider hitters to start the seventh and closed out the game with a ground out to third.
Dominguez finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Jones went 1-for-2 with a single, a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Olson went 1-for-2 with a single and was also hit by a pitch.
Jacobus was strong in defeat for the Raiders, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out five.
Park View 7, Broad Run 1
The Skinny: Robin Heironimus won her 16th game of the season by limiting the Spartans to four hits while the Patriot offense pounded out 12 hits. Offensive stars for the Patriots included Brittany Griffin with three hits; Sammie Gleason, Heironimus, Ally Rupard and Emily Nykorchuk also had two hits apiece. Rupard and Nykorchuk drove in two runs each as did Griffin. Dulles District Player of the Year Anna Blessing, who took the loss for the Spartans, wrapped up her brilliant 4-year career and scored BR's only run in the bottom of the seventh. It was the second straight season that the Patriots knocked the Spartans out of the district tournament in the semifinals. Last year Broad Run bounced back to win a third straight state title but BR will not defend its crown as their season is now finished.
Park View junior (left to right) Ally Rupard, Robin Heironimus and Emily Nykorchuk postgame
Boys Soccer
Broad Run 3, Park View 1
The Skinny: Broad Run led 1-0 at the half on junior Kevin Reitzel's header off senior Paul Ellington's throw-in in the 26th minute. The Patriots tied it early in the second half when the district's Player of the Year, junior Jose Miguel Herrera, scored an unassisted goal, with a nice chip over the keeper, in the 46th minute.
The Spartans answered four minutes later with junior Ryan Deutsch striking a one-timer from close range after running unmarked onto senior Danny Reategui's direct free kick. Junior Evan Thomas tacked on the insurance in the 71st minute after Broad Run was awarded an indirect free kick inside the penalty area and Thomas cleaned up a Reitzel pass.
Potomac Falls 2, Loudoun County 1
The Skinny: John Thomas scored the game winner in the second half for the No. 3 Panthers as they defeated No. 2 LC. Kevin King also scored for Potomac Falls, the defending district and region champion. With the Panthers up 1-0, Raider senior Kevin Doyle scored to tie the score at the half.
Girls Soccer
Broad Run 1, Potomac Falls 0
The Skinny: This game was tied until junior Ellie Zoepfl's goal midway through the second half. Spartan goalie sophomore Emily Myerson had one save to notch the shutout.
Loudoun County 3, Freedom 2
The Skinny: The Raiders were down 2-0 with 18 minutes left in their season when senior Olivia Mackey scored off of a corner kick from junior Leslie Lyford. Mackey's sister, sophomore Alana Mackey then tied the score with a goal and with two minutes left in the game Raider sophomore Shauna Kain completed the stunning comeback when she scored off of a long throw from sophomore Emma Sieber.
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