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Stonewall boys slug Battlefield 20-4
After last Thursday night's baseball game in Haymarket ended, Stonewall Jackson and Battlefield players lined up as usual to shake hands and head off to the outfield.It was a good night for Stonewall Jackson as the boys brought down the Bobcats, 20-4.
The Raiders (5-2 overall, 3-2 district) in left field smiled, laughed and recalled an outstanding game from all sides of the field. Two home runs, a complete-game pitching outing and, most importantly, a win over the team that ended Stonewall's run to the regional tournament last year: what wasn't to love in Raider-land?
Dashing between right and center field, the Bobcat boys (3-3, 2-3) performed their post-game sprints as the coaching staff tended to the field. Soon enough, they would all enter the bullpen.
And there, manager Matt Caudle and his crew addressed just what exactly went wrong.
After a 20-4 home-field loss, there was obviously a lot to talk about.
Caudle particularly chided his players for several problems, at one point explaining that SJ didn't beat the Bobcats as much as the team beat itself.
"Battlefield beat Battlefield for the third home game in a row," said Caudle.
He noted how his pitchers routinely fell behind in the count and their secondary pitches were missing their marks to the tune of nine walks in five innings.
In fact, it took until freshman reliever Zach Harris made his debut on the mound in the fifth inning that a Battlefield pitcher finally managed to contain the Stonewall hitting machine.
Harris gave up a double on his first pitch at the varsity level, but managed to strike out the next two Raider batters before inducing a 5-3 groundout to end SJ's half of the inning.
That was about one of the only positives Caudle could have his boys take out of a game that featured six defensive errors and the visiting team taking a 7-0 lead after three innings.
One difference from last season for Battlefield is the team’s entire pitching nexus from last year is gone. Titans Matt Crouse, who once struck out 20 Raiders in one outing, and Evan Scott, who was drafted by the MLB Los Angeles Angels, were both lost to graduation.
The team had no natural successor as the Bobcats' No. 3 pitcher, Danny McDonald, graduated too.
And McDonald was no slouch in his own right: he earned the W that knocked Stonewall out of the playoffs last season and captured the first-ever post-season Cedar Run District title for Battlefield.
So when the Stonewall hitters last week were scouting Shepard before the game, shortstop Alex Martinez noticed a consistent pitch selection.
“We were looking for straight fastballs. We saw that when he was warming up and they just kept coming," said Martinez, whose day at the plate featured an opposite field, two-run RBI that helped break the game open.
“Yeah, our game plan was really just to attack the strike zone,” said Stonewall manager Brian McCarthy. "We wanted to come out and not look at the first-pitch fastball, but go after it and hit it. That makes a difference.”
At the plate, Raiders' winning pitcher Mike Costello helped his own cause as early as he could. With leadoff man Sean Blackman and second baseman Cory Persohn on base, Costello hit a bomb over the center field wall to give the Raiders an early 3-0 lead. That was extended to 6-0 by the second inning with a home run by Persohn and additional runs scored by Costello, first baseman JayJay Zehring and designated hitter Brian Incheck.
“I just love the three hole. I feel comfortable in there because I know in the first inning, I'm going to get an at-bat. So, I'm mentally prepared to do that and I don't have to lead off (every inning),” said Costello.
Defensively, Stonewall kept the pressure coming even in the late innings as shortstop Martinez made a diving stab to his left, turning a would-be base hit into a force-out at second base.
“He's one of my guys right there. I haven't seen him make an error all year,” said Costello of Martinez.
According to McCarthy, Stonewall’s potent offense and rock-solid defense make the team legitimate contenders for the district crown this year.
“We want to be up there at the top. And we had a real tough week last week with OP and Loudoun Valley. They really stuck it to us and the kids had to come out and play this week. They did really well and I'm proud of them,” McCarthy said.
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