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Scott strikes out 15 in no-hitter versus Falcons
Battlefield senior pitcher Evan Scott dominated Fauquier last Friday in Haymarket, striking out 15 Falcons and allowing no hits as the Bobcats cruised to a 8-1 baseball victory against their Cedar Run District rival.
“In pre-game, we didn’t talk a whole lot about what we were going to see from him other than, ‘It’s going to be good,’” said Falcons coach Paul Koch. “And in order to be competitive, we have to have quality at-bats. We didn’t have enough against him, by far.”
After dropping three out of four games during a spring-break tournament in Florida, Battlefield (4-4 overall, 2-1 Cedar Run District) managed to even-up their overall won-loss record on the strength of patience from hitters, taking advantage of errors and relying on the steady arm of one of the area’s best hurlers.
“What we learned down in Fort Lauderdale is that you can’t play timid or scared,” said catcher Joey-El-bisi, who hit an RBI single as part of a three-run first inning for Battlefield. “You've just got to go out with a chip on your shoulder and believe you’re going to win.”
Sloppy defense from Fauquier (3-4 overall, 1-2 Cedar Run) hurt the Falcons early and often.
Battlefield senior Matt Crouse scored the first run of the game on an error. Then, in the third inning, Scott helped his own cause by darting home on a wild pitch, as did shortstop Matt Robles.
“I think if we don’t walk so many guys, and we don’t end up throwing a couple of balls down the line here, it’s probably a much better ball game,” Koch said.
The Fauquier coach still gave credit where it was due, though: Scott’s arm.
“But that kid was dealing it,” he said. “I know he’s a great pitcher, but he had great stuff tonight, and he didn’t miss.”
Scott, who will attend James Madison University, assessed his strengths versus the Falcons’ weaknesses and figured out what he had to do early in the game.
“I was just trying to attack the zone from the first inning,” said the 6-foot-3 senior. “I knew I was feeling pretty good and probably had them overmatched.”
He only needed two pitches to get the job down: a 91-mph fastball and a breaking ball that landed consistently in the strike zone.
After hitting lead-off batter Noah Joseph, Scott settled down and walked only one all game. He ran into some trouble in the top of the seventh when Fauquier put runners on the corners following back-to-back Battlefield errors.
Coach Matt Caudle then darted out from the dugout to lecture everyone in the infield — except Scott, who paced near the shortstop position.
After all, Fauquier’s only run came as a a result of an error in the third inning that allowed third baseman Zach Phillips to cross the plate.
The talk proved to be an exercise in futility, however, as Scott pulled off a major-league performance from the mound. He mowed down the next three straight batters on strikeouts to end the game.
“I think at the plate, he seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” said Koch. “And at the plate, we were overmatched a bit. But the kids showed some life there in the seventh. And that’s what we talked about: Let’s at least make it something we can build on.”
One notably positive performance from Fauquier came from second reliever Zack Dingus. The lefty allowed only one run in 4 1/3 innings of work after Battlefield lit up Greg Ussery and Josh Rogers for eight runs in the first 2 2/3 innings.
“Zach’s probably one of our most consistent guys on the mound,” noted the Fauquier coach.
Speaking of Dingus’s pitch selection, Koch said, “It’s not going to light up any radar guns, but it moves all over the place, and it’s tough to hit.”
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