Baseball: Spring Break Recaps - Potomac Falls Finishes Strong at Disney, SB Nipped by OP, BR Must Delay Wood Bat Title Game, and More!

(Apr. 22, 2011) - Sure the teams are on Spring Break officially now and we may have traveled South to the beach ... but we are still giving you the The Skinny. Here is a look at the baseball action from Tuesday through Thursday:

Thurs. Apr. 21
Middleburg 16 Randolf-Macon 0

Wed. Apr. 20
Potomac Falls 7, Methacton PA 1
The Skinny: Panthers report that they finished their Disney swing on Wednesday with a 7-1 win over Methacton HS of Norristown, PA. The Panthers went 3 and 1 at Disney with their only loss being an 8th inning defeat to St. Francis.

Jackson Rogers took the mound after throwing a no-hitter on Saturday and struck out the first 6 batters. He went through 4 innings of no hit ball before giving up his only hit of the trip in the fifth. Meanwhile, the Panthers scored one in the first on singles by Tyler Rice and Rogers. They put the game away in the second with 4 runs on hits by Ryan Mahoney, Ben Sweger and Ryan Miller. Potomac Falls added single runs in the 3rd and 5th innings.

Steven Fisher and Nick Fernandez finished up on the mound. The Panthers scored a total of 23 runs while only giving up 10 runs on 16 hits.

Woodbridge 3, Stone Bridge 2
The Skinny: Steve Johnston reports for Bulldogs that three Woodbridge pitchers combined to limit the Stone Bridge Bulldogs to two runs on six hits in the consolation game of the "Let's Play Two" tournament on Wednesday afternoon. Bulldogs junior Tyler Mocabee continued his strong pitching by limiting Woodbridge to just three runs on three hits over six innings, but it wasn't enough as the Stone Bridge bats were mostly dormant until the final inning when they mounted an unlikely rally.

With two outs, catcher Colin Karafa (2-3, SB) lined his second hit of the day into left field. After a walk to Connor Donavan, Mocabee singled on an 0-2 pitch, scoring Karafa and keeping hope alive. Junior Alex Wynn, getting his first start of the season in centerfield, made things interesting by singling in Donovan. That brought the hot-hitting leadoff hitter Josh Kuzbel to the plate with the tying run on third and the winning run on first base. Kuzbel worked the count to his favor before lining a 2-0 pitch off the leg of the pitcher who recovered and threw to first to end the game.

Lefty Alex Logan pitched a scoreless seventh for the Bulldogs keeping the game within reach and giving the Bulldogs one final chance.

The loss drops the Bulldogs season record to 8-3. All three losses have been by one run. They return to action on April 25th when they host the Loudoun Valley Vikings in a non-district contest.

Middleburg 7, Mount Vernon 5
The Skinny: Dragons report that Dylan Martinez hit a 2-run HR to provide the winning margin. Daniel Goldstein notched his second win in 3 days. Middleburg finished the Let's Play Two tourney with a 2-2 record with 2 wins against AAA competition.

George Mason 7, Briar Woods 2
Park View 8, Heritage 3
The Skinny: Pride report that -

Heritage 3 3 7 011 010 0
Park View 8 12 2 120 230 -

LP: Owen Gotimer (0-1)

Offensively:
Cameron Bell 1-3, 2b
Zach Hopeck 1-3, R
Owen Gotimer 1-3


Tues. Apr. 19
Cheers Sports/DST Wood Bat Tournament
Marshall 3, Heritage 2 (12)
Broad Run 3, George Mason 2
Liberty 3, Briar Woods 1
Bishop O'Connell 12, Park View 0
The Skinny: The Spartans report that the second round of the Cheers/DST Wood Bat Tournament was played at both Broad Run and Park View. The following are the results of the Spartans bracket played at Broad Run in Ashburn.

The noon game between Marshall and Heritage went 12 innings and was delayed by lightning. Marshall won 3-2 in the bottom of the 12th.

The second game between Broad Run and George Mason was decided in the bottom of the 7th. With the game tied at 2-2, Shea Bargeil doubled home Nick Richardson from second base for the winning run giving the Spartans a 3-2 win.

After two days of play Broad Run and Marshall finished the Spartans side of the bracket at 2-1 each. George Mason and Heritage finished the Spartans side of the bracket at 1-2 each. By virtue of the head to head tie break Broad Run is the #1 seed, Marshall is the #2 seed, George Mason is the #3 seed, and Heritage is the #4 seed.

On Wednesday all games will be played at Park View. The schedule is as follows:

Heritage will play Park View in the 7th place game at 9 AM. George Mason will play Briar Woods in the 5th place game at 11:30 AM. Marshall will play Liberty in the 3rd place game at 2 pm.

The Championship game between Broad Run and Bishop O'Connell can not be played on Wednesday due to a schedule conflict for Bishop O'Connell. The championship game date and time have yet to be determined.

Pride report that:
Marshall 3, Heritage 2 (13 innings)

Heritage 2 3 2 002 000 000 000 0
Marshall 3 14 3 001 000 100 000 1

Pitching for the Pride
Zach Hopeck ND 6.1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 10 H, BB, HP, K
Marco Verdi L 6.1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 7 K, 2 BB, HP


Potomac Falls 6, Hatsboro PA 3
The Skinny:Potomac Falls bounces back on Tuesday with a quality win over Hatsboro (PA) after losing an extra inning affair with St. Francis de Sales of Ohio on Monday.

In Monday’s game, the Panthers lost in the 8th inning to St. Francis 6-5 after playing catch up most of the game. St. Francis went through 7 different pitchers in keeping the Panthers off balance most of the game. Still Potomac Falls loaded the bases in the eighth but failed to push the tying run across the plate when they ended the game on an infield fly and fly out to center.

The Panthers took the field on Tuesday with a little different attitude.

Facing the Hatsboro Hatters (PA) Connor Gruber took the mound for the Panthers and proceeded to throw no hit ball through 4 innings while Potomac Falls built a 3 run lead. The Panthers got their first run in the 2nd on a single by Nile Roach, a walk to Matt Hoover and an RBI fielder’s choice by Matt Byrd. Ben Sweger then singled up the middle to score Byrd and the Panthers had a 2-0 lead. They added a run in the 4th on a double down the right field line by Colin Deely who scored on Hoover’s single up the middle,

Hatsboro scored 3 in the 5th on a controversial play at the plate. With 2 men on, Matt Saverio hit a ball to right field that Hoover fielded and came up throwing to the plate. Deely stepped up to catch the throw as he was bowled over by the runner. Deely was called for interference as the umpire ruled that the runner contacted Deely before he caught the ball and therefore ruled it as catcher interference. ESPN replays showed that Deely caught the ball before the runner contacted him, therefore the runner should have been ruled out. Shaken up by the play and the delay, Gruber then balked letting the tying run score. Stephen Fisher came on in relief and effectively shutdown the Hatters the rest of the way.

The Panthers responded by scoring 2 in the 5th on singles by Ryan Miller and Deely. Michael Lascomb then followed with a 2 RBI double to left field to put Potomac Falls up 5-3. They added an insurance run in the 6th on a single by Sweger who eventually scored on a passed ball.

Battlefield 11, Middleburg 5

Osbourn Park 5, Stone Bridge 4
The Skinny: Steve Johnston reports that the undefeated and state-ranked Osbourn Park Yellow Jackets hosted the Stone Bridge Bulldogs in a semi-final game of the "Let's Play Two Tournament." Coach Sam Plank's 8-1 Bulldogs traveled to Manassas looking to pull an upset, but in a back-and-forth tussle that could have gone either way, the Yellow Jackets prevailed with a score of 5-4. For the Bulldogs it was a tale of missed opportunities as they stranded nine baserunners on the night and left runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings. However, it was a missed opportunity in the sixth that shifted momentum to the home team.

 A Sid Harvey steal of home in the fifth had tied the score at 4-4, setting the stage for the decisive sixth inning. Spenser Rositano led off the top of the sixth with a single to center, and proceeded to steal second and third. With one out, number three hitter J.J. White lifted a fly ball to medium right field. With arguably their fastest runner tagging at third, it seemed likely that the Bulldogs were going to take the lead. However, the Yellow Jackets right-fielder threw a strike to home plate, and the tag was applied to the sliding Rositano who was called out, ending the threat.

As so often happens when a player makes a great defensive play to end an inning, he leads off the next inning. Such was the case in the bottom of the sixth. The first batter of the inning for Osbourn Park was their rightfielder who made the catch and throw for the double play at the top of the inning. He proceeded to deposit the third pitch he saw over the centerfield fence, 365 feet away, to give the Yellow Jackets a lead they would not relinquish. In the seventh, the Yellow Jackets brought in their Ace, Scott Halsey, to get the last three outs. In what would typify the Bulldogs frustrations for the night, Josh Kuzbel hit a one out single, then proceeded to steal second base, putting himself in scoring position with one out. That's as far as he would get though, as Halsey would get the final two outs to end the game.

The Bulldog offense was led by Rositano (2-4, 2SB) and the Kuzbel brothers, Josh (3-4, 2B, SB) and Jake (2-3, 2B, BB). Steve Putnick was the losing pitcher, and his record falls to 3-1 on the season.

Stone Bridge is back in action at 12:30 on Wednesday in the consolation game vs. Woodbridge, who lost to West Springfield in the other semi-final.


Mon. Apr. 18
St. Francis OH 6, Potomac Falls 5
The Skinny: See above Apr. 19


For more of Monday's games, go here!