James Madison Warhawks 2009 Game Summaries

WOODSON, WEATHER LEAVE WARHAWKS WONDERING

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	5	8	3
Woodson	11	10	2

The 2009 Madison baseball season drew to a close with a bang but it wasn’t the kind of bang members of the Warhawk nation were hoping for. Rather, it was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that caused the District playoff game against Woodson to be suspended with Madison batting in the bottom of the seventh. Ultimately, the game was called denying the Warhawks a chance to rally. On a night of missed opportunities, aggressive mistakes and questionable calls by the umpires, it was the final instance in which coaches, players and fans were all left wondering what might have been.

Madison was seeded third in the Liberty District Tournament and Woodson sixth based on the regular season results. The Cavaliers were coming off a first round victory drubbing Jefferson 21-1 the previous night while the Warhawks had a bye. The teams split two regular season meetings. Early in the season Woodson won 10-4 and more recently Madison prevailed 15-1. Strangely, both times the visiting squad won decisively. Madison was the home team by virtue of its higher seeding. Perhaps that was an indication of things to come.

Andrew Bayer started for the Warhawks. After a lead off ground out, an infield error put Max Waizenegger aboard. He stole second and went to third when the throw went into center field. Bayer buckled down to record a swinging strike out on a breaking ball in the dirt. Catcher Alex Jacquez blocked the ball, held the runner at third and threw to first to retire the batter. Bayer then ended the inning on a called strike three.

In the Madison first, T.J. Ehrsam reached first on an infield error with one out. He moved to third when Teddy Turner drilled a shot down the first base line for a double. Ehrsam scored on an RBI ground out by Ricardo Perez to give Madison a 1-0 lead. Turner was stranded at third on a fly out to center.

Bayer retired the first two Cavalier batters in the second, battling back from a 3-0 count to get a comebacker on a 3-2 pitch for the second out. Joe McGillicuddy reached on an infield hit. Shortstop Cam Cassady made a nice backhanded, diving stop on the ball but his throw to first was too late. McGillicudy was forced at second to end the inning when Cassady made a fine play on a ball hit up the middle. It took a tricky hop off his chest but he recovered to make a diving tag of second with the ball in his throwing hand.

John McGillicuddy, Joe’s twin brother, retired the bottom of Madison’s line up in order in the bottom of the second on a strike out and a pair of ground outs. With one out in the third, Woodson leadoff hitter Kirk Lewis hit a blooper just fair down the right field line with Matt Moore hustling over to hold him to a single. Lewis promptly stole second. Ahead in the count 1-2, Jacquez camped on the outside corner and didn’t move his glove to catch a pitch but the umpire called it a ball. Waizenegger ultimately walked on a full count and on the next pitch, Connor Reilly launched a three run blast over the center field fence just to the right of the flag pole. While there was nothing cheap about the homer, the cheap hit by Lewis and the non-call on the 1-2 pitch are both plays which leave us wondering what might have been.

Following the home run Madison brought in Eli Facenda to pitch with one out and no one on. After a ground out, Connor Finnerty hit a perfectly placed pop fly single just inside the right field line and Brendan Breslin followed with sharply hit single up the middle to put runners at the corners. Facenda ended the threat with a strike out.

The Warhawks sent the top of the order to the plate in the third. Jacquez, batting in the lead off spot for the first time in his Madison career, hit a hard grounder to third. The throw to first was high but Joe McG. came off the bag to tag Jacquez on the helmet for an important first out. Ehrsam showed his blazing speed when he followed with a bunt single. Turner hit a high chopper to second and Ehrsam, going on the pitch, passed in front of the second baseman. The fielder may have been distracted as the ball went off his glove to put two men on. Perez singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Ehrsam with Turner holding at second. Scott Bernier singled sharply to right to drive in Turner and move Perez to third. However, when the first baseman bobbled the cutoff on the throw home, Bernier tried to take second and was gunned down. It was an aggressive base running move but the out ended the inning and once again leaves us wondering what might have been.

With the score tied at three apiece, Facenda retired the side in order in the Woodson half of the fourth. The inning began with a web gem by Bernier who made a backhanded grab of a smash down the third base line and rifled the throw across the diamond for the out. In turn, John McG. retired Madison in order in the bottom of the fourth.

Waizenegger led off the Cavalier fifth by driving one over the batting cage behind the left field fence. Facenda pitched carefully to Reilly, who had homered his last time up, and issued a five pitch walk. John McG. then hit a Texas leaguer just fair down the right field line to put runners at the corners. Finnerty brought home the second run of the inning on a fly ball to right. Facenda retired the side on a force out and a strike out but Woodson had taken a 5-3 lead. Again, while there was nothing cheap about the homer, the cheap hit that keyed the second run leaves us wondering what might have been.

John McG. retired the Warhawks in order in the bottom of the fifth. As the sixth inning began, Danny Cate came in to pitch for Madison and a steady drizzle began to fall. His first pitch hit Colin Dempsey in the helmet. Woodson sent a pinch hitter to the plate who bunted foul on three consecutive pitches for a strike out. When Cate walked lead off hitter Lewis on a full count, Gavin Hillburn came in to pitch with the next two hitters having already homered in the game.

Hillburn struck out Waizenegger on a 2-2 pitch for the second out then disaster struck. Reilly walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. John McG. grounded a single up the middle just past the diving second baseman to bring in two runs. Finnerty hit a hard grounder just fair over the third base bag to drive in another and put runners at second and third. The inning looked to be over on a grounder to short but the throw was in the dirt and deflected high off the glove of the first baseman on the scoop attempt to bring home two more runs. Joe McG. singled to right to put runners at the corners.

With two outs, Joe McG. attempted to steal second and Jacquez gunned a perfect throw to short. As the runner retreated toward first, he stepped onto the infield grass to avoid the tag as the shortstop looked at the runner at third breaking for home. Joe McG. trotted to second as the umpire failed to call him out claiming that although he went out of the baseline, no attempt was made to tag him. One can only wonder why the runner ran out of the baseline if there was no attempt to tag him. That call allowed the final run of the inning to score.

The inning ended on a strike out but it could have ended much earlier on any one of several plays. Incredibly, Madison pitchers had struck out the side but Woodson had somehow managed to manufacture six runs after two outs with only three hits. There were too many instances to count where we were left wondering what might have been.

Perhaps because of the long inning and the continued drizzle, John McG. seemed to lose something in the bottom of the sixth. He began the inning with a strike out but Perez followed with a drive to right field for a hit. When the right fielder slipped attempting to cut the ball off, Perez gambled and took second ahead of the center fielder’s throw for a double. Unfortunately, he gambled again trying to advance when a pitch to Bernier kicked to the left of catcher Reilly who gunned a bullet to third for the second out.

This was particularly costly when Bernier singled solidly to right center and Ryan McGuire blasted a towering two run homer to left field. With the drizzle continuing to fall, Cassady walked on four pitches and Moore was hit on a 2-0 pitch. Nate Favero did a masterful job slapping an 0-2 pitch through the left side of the infield to load the bases and bring up the top of the order. John McG. reached back and threw four of his nastiest curve balls of the night to record a strike out. In a miraculous escape, he managed to give up only two runs despite giving up four hits and his only walk and hit batsman of the night. And once again we were left wondering what might have been.

Will Clarkson, who started and got the win in Madison’s earlier victory over Woodson, came in to pitch the seventh. He started by hitting Ryan Lluy with a pitch but Cassady made a fine backhanded stop to force Lluy at second for the first out. With the next two batters having previously homered, the Cavaliers were poised to pad their lead. Instead Clarkson battled through fourteen pitches to fan Waizenegger and Reilly back to back to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh Woodson brought in Tyler Wislocki to pitch and a heavy downpour began. He got the first out on a grounder but Turner reached base when his one hop bullet handcuffed the second baseman. With a 2-1 count on Perez, there was a flash of lightning, a clap of thunder and the game was suspended. About 45 minutes later it was called altogether leaving us wondering what might have been. Would the Warhawks have rallied to tie or win the game? Who knows? Earlier in the game Woodson scored six runs after two outs so who is to say Madison wouldn’t have pulled off a similar feat? We will certainly have a long time to wonder about it.

It brought a conclusion to the season that was unexpected, unfulfilling and downright unsettling. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand observed that, “It wasn’t a typical end of the season for us. We’ve been to the District championship game each of the last three years and eight of the last nine. It also wasn’t typical of the effort this team gave all year long.”

In the final analysis, pitching largely explains the outcome of the game. Before throwing almost 30 pitches in the sixth, John McG. threw fewer than 60 pitches including only nine pitches in each of the fourth and fifth innings. He struck out only one batter but walked none until the sixth when he began and ended the inning with strike outs. In the sixth he also recorded his only walk and hit batsman but neither scored. He didn’t overpower the hitters but he kept them off balance. By contrast, the five Madison hurlers combined to record ten strike outs. However, they also walked four and hit two leading to five runs.

It is easy to lose sight of the fact that this had been a surprisingly successful season. This was a young Madison team with but seven seniors, only two of whom had seen significant playing time before this season. What they lacked in numbers they more than made up for in leadership. One of the young Warhawks commented that the seniors, “Didn’t tear us down, they built us up.” Indeed, even though Alex Jacquez, Ricardo Perez, Cam Cassady, Gavin Hilburn, Will Clarkson, Chris Powers and Rett Morrissette will graduate, thanks to their superb mentoring the Madison tradition will carry on.

Coach Gjormand summed it up best saying, “We have great seniors. You can’t always measure success in championships. They have left a legacy that will show for the next three years. Eighteen of our guys have an opportunity to come back and show what the Class of ‘09 taught them. The future is real bright.”

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MADISON STORMS PAST SEAHAWKS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	7	11	0
South Lakes	3	6	2

After being rained out Tuesday night, Madison’s Senior Night got underway an hour early on Wednesday to try to dodge the threat of storms but it wasn’t soon enough. Through one short rain delay and three hours, it was only possible to get part way into the bottom of the fifth before the skies opened up and the game had to be suspended with the score tied at three apiece.

Andrew Bayer took the mound for the Warhawks and worked easily through the first two South Lakes batters, getting a ground out and a fly out on only three pitches. Wilfredo Corps-Ortiz hit a frozen rope into the gap in right center for a double but his good fortune didn’t last long as Bayer made a nice pick-off throw to Cam Cassady sneaking in behind the runner to end the inning.

In the Warhawk first, Seahawk pitcher Will Sweet got off to a similar start getting two quick outs. Then Teddy Turner hit a hard grounder to short that was bobbled and the throw was wild putting him safely on first. As Alex Jacquez took the count full against Sweet, Turner stole second. A sharply hit single by Jacquez scored the speedy Turner with the first Warhawk run. Gavin Hilburn came in as a courtesy runner and went to second when Ricardo Perez was hit by a pitch and the first rain shower started coming down. The inning ended with a pop up to shallow right field that was handled by the second baseman. The game was stopped while the shower blew over.

After a thirty minute rain delay, Sweet came to bat to start the South Lakes second. He was issued a free pass on four straight pitches. Again, trying a bit too hard to gain an advantage came back to bite the Seahawks as Sweet was caught leaning by catcher Jacquez and picked off at first with Perez applying the tag. To add insult to injury, the pitch was a strike and Bayer struck out the batter swinging on three pitches. Tyler Siqueiros drew a walk after working the count full but Bayer got the next batter on a comebacker.

The effects of the wet weather continued to be evident as Sweet hit Ryan McGuire with his first pitch in the Warhawk second. Cassady teed off on a 2-0 pitch and hit what looked to be a round-tripper as it came off the bat but it was tracked down in Madison’s cavernous center field for a long out as McGuire retreated to first. McGuire was erased at second on a fielder’s choice and T. J. Ehrsam singled to put runners on first and second. Matt Moore worked the count full and hit a slow grounder to Siqueiros at first who made a nice play tossing to Sweet covering first to beat Moore hustling down the line.

Bayer had a great third inning starting with another comebacker for an easy out and following up with two strikeouts. The Warhawks struck again in their half of the inning with Perez singling with two outs followed by Scott Bernier getting hit by a pitch. McGuire tagged a double, picking up an RBI as Perez scored from third. Cassady came up and worked the count full. As Sweet fired the payoff pitch low for a base on balls, McGuire took off from second with Cassady heading to first. The Seahawk catcher fired down to second and McGuire was caught in a run down. He did a great job of avoiding the tag long enough to allow Bernier to scamper home for the third run.

The Seahawks mounted a bit of threat in the top of the fourth with Corps-Ortiz singling and Sweet drawing a walk. Nick Beaulac also singled to load the bases with only one out. The Warhawks got out of the jam with a nifty 1-2-3 double play getting a force at home on a slow roller fielded by Bayer followed by Jacquez gunning the ball down to Perez at first to beat the batter. Despite the momentum boost from that play the Warhawks went down in order in their half of the inning.

The Seahawk fifth opened as the rain resumed in earnest. Struggling against the elements, the Warhawks allowed South Lakes to load the bases on a pair of hit batters wrapped around a single by Ryan Forrest. Bayer was removed from the game with Eli Facenda taking the mound for Madison.

Jon Baamonde grounded to short and Cassady flipped to Favero for the force at second but Wesley Casson scored the first Seahawk run. With one out and runners at the corners, Billy McLaughlin bunted and Facenda got the out at first, but another Seahawk run came in with Baamonde moving to second. This brought up Corps-Ortiz who completed his 3-3 afternoon by singling with Baamonde holding at third. Sweet then hit a slow roller through the right side to score the tying run. Bernier recorded the last out charging another slow grounder and firing to first.

Turner and Jacquez came up in the rain in the bottom of the fifth and singled back to back. Hilburn again ran for Jacquez. In the wet conditions, Perez bunted to move the runners over. That brought Bernier to the plate with one out and runners at second and third. The rain was really coming down and with a 1-2 count the umpires decided to suspend play.

The game resumed about 68 hours later on a dry field under overcast skies. Sweet was still on the mound and Bernier calmly took the first two pitches to work the count full. He then drove a single to right through the drawn in infield to plate Turner and move Hilburn to third. McGuire was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Austin Mellor came in to run for him. Cassady walked to force in the second run. With the infield drawn in, Siqueiros gloved a chopper down the first baseline, came home for the first out and the catcher threw to the second baseman covering first to end the threat on a rare 3-2-4 double play.

Turner took the mound for the Warhawks in the top of the sixth and after a two out walk ended the mild threat with a strike out.

Madison sent the top of the order to the plate in the bottom of the sixth looking to pad its lead. With one out, Moore flared a single to left and promptly stole second. Turner smashed a grounder past the diving third baseman for a single and Moore scored when the left fielder mishandled the ball with Turner bolting to second. John Beck came in to pitch for South Lakes. Zach Schwatka pinch ran and moved to third on a passed ball. Jacquez drove him in with a line drive over the head of the shortstop with the infield drawn in. Hilburn again ran for Jacquez and stole second. Perez walked but the rally ended on a pair of force outs from the shortstop to the second baseman.

Facing the top of the Seahawk order in the seventh, Turner got the first out easily but surrendered a walk after being ahead in the count 1-2 to bring up the dangerous Corps-Ortiz. Turner fell behind 2-0 in the count but induced a routine fly out to left and the game ended with Cassady charging a slow roller past the mound and rocketing a throw to first.

It was a workmanlike win that featured solid pitching by Bayer, Facenda and Turner. They were backed by errorless defense which was no small feat given the conditions during the first five innings. Jacquez led the offense with three hits and two RBI while Turner chipped in with a pair of hits and scored three times. Not to be overlooked was Bernier’s marathon at bat spanning three days. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand observed that, “It’s tough to start with a 1-2 count. It was great to see Scotty come through. Teddy did a good job closing things out. It was nice to come back, get this game finished and end the regular season on a positive note.”

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BULLDOGS’ BIG THIRD THUMPS MADISON

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	0	3	2
Stone Bridge	10	8	0

For the second time this season, Stone Bridge exploded for a big inning to key a victory over Madison. Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs sent thirteen men to the plate scoring eight runs despite getting only three singles in the inning. Combined with the three hit pitching of Nick Fialdini, it was more than enough to give Stone Bridge an easy victory in a game shortened to six innings because of the ten run rule.

Fialdini started the game by striking out the first two Madison hitters. Pitching carefully to Alex Jacquez, he issued a four pitch walk but then retired the side on a fly to right.

Danny Cate started for Madison and yielded a lead off single to Spenser Rositano. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on an errant pick off attempt. JJ White scored the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center. The inning ended on a strike out.

Ryan McGuire stroked a one out line drive to center for a single in the Madison second. He was stranded at first on a fly ball to right and a grounder to first.

After a lead off walk in the bottom of the second, Cate battled back from a 3-0 count to get the first out on a called strike three. He then started a nifty double play grabbing a well hit grounder, whirling and firing a strike to Cam Cassady covering second who threw to first to complete the inning ending double play.

T.J. Ehrsam started things for the Warhawks in the third by fisting a blooper into center field for a single. After a fly out, Ehrsam stole second. Fialdini got the second out via strike out and then intentionally walked Jacquez. He ended the inning with another strike out.

Pat Piccolo started the Bulldog third by drawing a walk. Ominously, he became the fifth batter in the last six to work the count full. Brad Koch laid down a sacrifice bunt and was safe at first when Cate’s throw was high. Sid Harvey pinch ran for Koch. Rositano walked and was forced at second when Michael Prince hit a grounder to short. A better relay to first might have produced a double play and Piccolo scored in the process. Harvey scored and Prince took second on a wild pitch. When White walked, Gavin Hilburn came in to pitch with the score 3-0.

Taylor Lambke hit a pop fly to right that fell just out of the reach of a diving attempt by Matt Moore to reload the bases. Michael Mattingly battled back from a 1-2 count to draw a walk and force in another run. Patrick Thompson hit a hard grounder that resulted in a force out at third but the relay to first was in the dirt negating a potential inning ending double play. Ty Lighton, pinch running for White, scored on the play to make it 5-0.

Things went from bad to worse when Cassady made a nice diving stop of a grounder up the middle by Bryce Williams but the second baseman didn’t cover the bag for what could have been an inning ending force out. Cassady scrambled to his feet but his throw to first was too late loading the bases again. Two more runs came in as Piccolo and Koch were hit with consecutive pitches. Rositano finished the onslaught with a two run single to center.

Conceivably, with good defense, the inning could have been scoreless but instead Stone Bridge had pushed across eight runs. Eli Facenda came in to get the final out of the inning but more than enough damage had been done.

Fialdini set the Warhawiks down in order in both the fourth and fifth needing only eight pitches in each inning. For his part, Facenda responded by giving up lone singles in each frame while fanning three Bulldog batters on called strike threes. His performance on the mound was one of the few bright spots for Madison.

In the sixth, Lambke made a diving stop at third of a one out smash by Jacquez but couldn’t recover in time to get the out at first. Will Clarkson pinch ran and stole second. Ricardo Perez followed with a rocket that was hit right at the left fielder. Scott Bernier was hit by a pitch and the runners moved to second and third on a double steal. On a night when the breaks didn’t go Madison’s way, the inning ended when McGuire crushed a ball that the right fielder caught near the fence after turning first to his right and then back to his left.

Chris Powers took the mound for the Warhawks in the sixth and Prince led off with a bunt single. Moore made a sliding catch in right for an out but Lambke fouled off a pair of two strike offerings before getting hit with a 1-2 pitch. The game ended when Mattingly singled home Prince to bring home the tenth Bulldog run of the game.

Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “We’re in a funk and we need to find a way out. Just as quickly as we got into this we can regain our confidence. The District tournament is wide open.”

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WARHAWKS POUNDED by Saxon Artillery

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	1	3	1
Langley	12	13	1

On a night where Langley ace Joey Zarella pitched a masterful game the Langley bats also broke loose for a barrage of powerful hits including three home runs. The Warhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead but the Saxons came right back with five runs to seize the lead and never looked back. All in all, it was just not Madison’s night.

With two outs in the Warhawk first, Teddy Turner reached first on a bobbled ball by the second baseman. Alex Jacquez followed with hard hit liner to left with Turner holding at second. Will Clarkson came in to run for Jacquez. As Ricardo Perez dug in at the plate, Zarella made one of his few mistakes and a passed ball advanced the runners. Perez then singled sharply between short and third, scoring Turner. Perez stole second but the threat was ended with Zarella inducing a ground ball to short to end the inning. It was a theme that would be repeated many times throughout the game, as Zarella would end up getting 10 of the 15 Madison outs via ground balls.

Langley came to the plate facing Madison starter Gavin Hilburn and Barrett Hunter took the count full before drawing a walk. Jack McLindon doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs. Chris Sievers drove the ball over the left field fence for a three run homer. Geremy Mahn doubled and advanced to third as Zarella followed with a double. A sacrifice fly scored Mahn and Zarella scored on a single by Pete White to make the score 5 - 1. Another single by Will Lawrence put Saxon runners on first and second. The Warhawks got out of the inning on a nifty pick-off move by Hilburn to shortstop Cam Cassady to get White at second, followed by catcher Jacquez picking Lawrence off first with the tag applied by Perez.

The second inning was the least eventful of the evening with both sides going down in order. The one highlight was another web gem by Matt Moore in right field on a diving catch to record the second Langley out.

In the Madison third, Moore was robbed after hitting a ball into the gap between second and first that was smothered by the second baseman in shallow right field who tossed to first just in time for the out. With Turner reaching on a walk and then moving up to second on another pitch that got by Mahn and went to the backstop, one can only wonder what might have been if the speedy Moore was still out there and there was only one out instead of two. It may have turned out to be a key play to keep Zarella in command of the game as the Madison inning ended with a routine fly ball stranding Turner at second.

The Langley third started with a fly out to right. Mahn singled down the third base line and Zarella came to the plate and smashed one over the left field fence. With the score now 7-1, Madison brought in Eli Facenda to relieve Hilburn. Clay Rainie drew a walk followed by a White smash down the third base line that went off the glove of Bernier to put Langley runners on the corners. When White stole second, the throw from home got through into center and Rainie scored. The Saxons next two batters popped out to third and grounded out to short, bringing the third to a close with Langley leading 8-1.

There was a scary moment in the Warhawk fourth as Scott Bernier came to the plate with one out and was hit bcy a pitch on the elbow. He left the game and was replaced by David Belt who went in to run for him. Zarella got two more ground ball outs to end the inning stranding Belt and allowing no runs.

Facenda opened the Langley fourth by striking out Hunter, McLindon reached on an error and then Sievers singled up the middle. Mahn flew out to left, sending McLindon home with the ninth Langley run. Zarella doubled again, but was stranded when Facenda struck out Rainie looking to end the inning.

In the Madison fifth, with one out, T.J. Ehrsam smashed a ball right back at Zarella, who caught the liner in an act of self defense. Matt Moore hit a soft fly ball over third for a base hit, but Zarella closed out the inning with a strike out.

Madison brought in Clarkson to pitch in the fifth. After hitting White with a pitch, Lawrence doubled to center and then Ian Wood hit the third Langley homer of the night to left to bring the ten run rule into effect and mercifully end the game.

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MADISON MARCHES PAST COLONIALS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	11	12	0
Jefferson	1	5	2

On a pleasant evening at Madison, the Warhawks scored a pair of runs to break open a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third and another eight runs in the last three innings to beat the Jefferson Colonials going away. Andrew Bayer and Eli Facenda combined on a five hitter, the Madison defense was flawless and the offense piled up a dozen hits led by Alex Jacquez with three and two apiece from Teddy Turner, Ryan McGuire and Nate Favero.

Bayer drew the starting assignment and retired the side in order in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Mason Freedman took the mound for Jefferson. T.J. Ehrsam led off with a walk on a full count. He stole second with a headfirst slide and moved to third on a grounder to second. Teddy Turner hit a bullet up the middle to bring home the game’s first run. After a force out, Ricardo Perez drilled a single to left to put runners at the corners. The inning ended on a grounder to third.

Bayer set down the side in order again in the second. In the Madison half of the inning, Favero singled up the middle with two outs. Ehrsam reached base when the third baseman couldn’t handle his hard hit grounder. The threat ended on an infield pop up.

Michael Ross led off the third for the Colonials by taking the first pitch over the center field fence to knot the score at one apiece. After a strike out, Jonathan Wildes drew a walk and Nick Perez was hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Scott Bernier made a nice play on a grounder to third to hold the runners and gun the batter out at first. Cam Cassady made a good play on a grounder to short to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Turner led off with a towering home run to right center just to the left of the State Champions banner. Jacquez followed with a rope over the leaping second baseman for a single. Gavin Hillburn pinch ran and stole second. With two outs, McGuire clubbed a drive over the third baseman’s head driving home Hilburn. The inning ended on a pop up.

Madison brought in Facenda to pitch the top of the fourth. Bayer gave up one run on one hit in three innings. Throwing less than forty pitches, he walked one, hit one and struck out three. Ryan Stumvoll led off with a pop fly to shallow center that fell for a hit just out of the reach of the diving Ehrsam. Facenda dialed 5-4-3 and Bernier, Favero and Perez answered the call with an around the horn double play. The inning ended on a ground out.

In the Warhawk fourth, Ehrsam and Moore were hit by pitches with one out. Turner hit a grounder that the first baseman fielded and threw to second too late to get the fleet Moore to load the bases. Jacquez singled to left to bring in Ehrsam prompting Jefferson to remove Freedman in favor of Chris Kilgore. Hilburn pinch ran for Jacquez and Perez walked on four pitches to force home Moore. Bernier hit a rocket right at the shortstop for the first out. McGuire crushed a liner to left that drove in Moore and Hilburn. The inning ended on a fly out and a comebacker with Madison leading 7-1.

Ross led off the fifth for Jefferson with a grounder through the hole between short and third for a hit. With one out, Wildes lofted one into short right for a single to put runners on first and second with the top of the order coming up. Facenda bore down and retired the side on a fly to right and a comebacker.

Favero started things in the fifth for Madison by grounding a ball under the first baseman’s glove for a hit. Ehrsam sacrificed him to second. Moore singled to left with a nice inside out swing and Favero scored when the ball eluded the left fielder. Turner ended a nine pitch at bat by lacing a shot right at the centerfielder for an out. Turner hit the ball hard all four at bats in his return from a three game absence with an injured ankle. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand would later comment, “It’s nice to get Teddy back healthy.” Jacquez grounded a single to left but the inning ended on a fly ball to center.

In the Colonial sixth, Facenda surrendered a two out single to Thomas Woodruff then battled through seven pitches to end the inning on a strike out. In the bottom of the sixth, the Warhawks sent a parade of pinch hitters to the plate. Jonny Graham and Chris Powers got things started by getting plunked back to back. Jefferson brought in Kyle Gaarder to pitch and Austin Chute and Austin Mellor drew back to back walks to force Graham in with the ninth run. After a strike out, Powers was forced at the plate on a grounder to short. With two outs, Will Clarkson hit a double over the centerfielder’s head to bring in the final two runs necessary for the ten run rule to come into effect.

It was an all around solid effort by Madison on the mound, in the field and at the plate. Coach Gjormand summed it up by saying, “Andrew and Eli both did a good job on the mound tonight pounding the strike zone. We were very patient at the plate. It was good to get this win. Coach Gardziel always does a good job getting his team ready.”

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MADISON RALLIES IN SIXTH TO STUN STATESMEN

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	3	9	1
Marshall	1	4	1

The Marshall Statesmen held a 1-0 lead from the first pitch in the bottom of the first until the decisive top of the sixth when Madison bunched four consecutive hits to score three runs enabling the Warhawks to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Playing their fourth game in four days, Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand noted,”I have a lot of respect for Marshall. We executed when we needed to today but we had to dig down deep.”

Marshall put freshman sensation Mitch MacKeith on the mound to start the game. After falling behind 3-0 on the leadoff batter, he battled back to record a strike out looking. It set the tone for the next five innings. Matt Moore walked but was erased on a force out at second on a grounder by Scott Bernier. Bernier took second when the second baseman’s relay to first was wild. MacKeith worked the count full before retiring the side on a comebacker.

Danny Cate drew the starting duty on the mound for Madison. Kevin Nutter led off for Marshall by taking the first pitch over the center field fence. It should be noted that it is only 330 feet to dead center at Marshall versus well over 400 feet at Madison. Regardless, the blow gave Marshall an early 1-0 lead. Tom Pacheco reached on an infield error but Cate retired the next three hitters in order. The inning ended with Moore making a fine back handed catch running back to the fence in right.

In the Madison second, Ryan McGuire singled with one out but was picked off first by the catcher. The inning ended when Cam Cassady hit a hard line drive to right that Jacob Bennett charged and dove to catch. Cate set Marshall down in order in the bottom of the second.

Joe Corrigan led off the third for the Warhawks with a grounder up the middle on an 0-2 pitch. The second baseman dove to smother the ball but couldn’t get the throw to first in time to get the speedy Corrigan. Nate Favero sacrificed him to second but he was stranded there on a pair of ground outs.

Kevin Williamson led off the third for the Statesman by lining a single through the hole on the left side of the infield. That snapped a string of six straight batters retired by Cate. Facing the top of the order, he set them down 1-2-3 on two fly balls to center and one to right.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Ricardo Perez drew a walk on a full count. On an 0-2 count, McGuire hit a line drive through the right side of the infield with a nice piece of hitting. The inning ended with Cassady fouling off a pair of two strke pitches and working the count full before striking out. Although the Warhawks failed to score, MacKeith had to throw 22 pitches in the inning which might have been a factor later in the game on a warm Saturday afternoon.

Cate set Marshall down in order in the bottom of the fourth running up a second string of retiring six consecutive batters. MacKeith responded by retiring Madison in order in the top of the fifth. That set up a bottom of the fifth that was dramatic and, for members of the Warhawk nation, exhilarating.

Greg Goldsmith battled through an eight pitch walk to get things started and Chris Quinn came in to pinch run. Aaron Gooding walked on four pitches to put runners at first and second. Anticipating a bunt, the Warhawks went through a number of infield rotations designed to keep Quinn close to second if not pick him off. In fact, on one maneuver it appeared he was picked off but the umpire called him safe. When Cate finally delivered a pitch to the plate, Williamson laid down a good bunt toward third. In a tremendous hustle play, Bernier fielded the ball and threw to shortstop Cassady covering third to get the lead runner.

That set a pivotal and controversial play. With one out and runners on first and second the Statesmen had the top of the order coming up starting with Nutter who had accounted for the only run of the day.

Pitching carefully, Cate threw a breaking ball in the dirt that Alex Jacquez blocked but it kicked away to his right. Jacquez pounced on the ball and seeing he had no play at third held the ball and ran out in front of the plate toward the runner hung up between first and second. He fired the ball to Cassady who began chasing Williamson as he retreated to first. When Gooding broke off third for the plate, Cassady had to wait as Jacquez backpedalled to home. Jacquez overran the plate, caught the throw in foul territory and lunged toward Gooding sliding into home. The umpire called him out to the loud protests of the Marshall faithful and head coach. It was a huge break for Madison.

Cate hit Nutter with the next pitch and Madison brought in Andrew Bayer to pitch. He retired the side on one pitch on a force out at second. Marshall still held a slim 1-0 lead that could easily have been at least one run bigger.

With his pitch count above seventy on the first warm day of the baseball season, MacKeith was facing the 2-3-4 hitters to start the sixth. It appeared that Cate had lost a bit in the prior inning and he is bigger than MacKeith and had thrown considerably fewer pitches. However, MacKeith had scattered three hits and a pair of walks while pitching shutout ball over the first five innings and had retired four consecutive hitters so the Statesman stuck with him.

Moore led off the inning by smashing a one hopper that handcuffed the second baseman for a hit. He advanced to second on a passed ball and held at third on Bernier’s single to left. Austin Mellor pinch ran for Bernier. With runners at the corners, Jacquez roped a shot down the left field line. Mellor made it to third with a headfirst slide and Jacquez pulled into second with an RBI double to tie the game. Gavin Hilburn pinch ran for Jacquez. Perez chased home both runners by ripping a line drive to right to give the Warhawks the lead.

Marshall pulled MacKeith in favor of Kyle Barrand. The lefty had pitched brilliantly but may have lost just enough in the sixth to allow Madison to catch up with him. Jonny Graham pinch hit and bunted Perez over to second. Cassady hit a pop up to shallow right but Bennett once again robbed him of a hit with a diving catch. The inning ended on a fly to right.

Facing the 3-4-5 hitters, Bayer got the first out in the bottom of the sixth on a comebacker. Trey Thomas drilled a double in the gap in left center. He moved to third on a grounder to second but was stranded there when the inning ended with a soft liner right to Perez at first. Bayer needed only eight pitches to get out of the inning.

Bennett, another lefty, took the mound for Marshall in the top of the seventh. With one out T.J. Ehrsam beat out a slow grounder to third. Ehrsam broke for second on Bennett’s movement but Bennett threw to first baseman Goldsmith who fired it to Nutter covering second for the out. Moore beat out a roller to second for a hit and stole second. He was stranded there on a called strike three to end the inning.

Madison brought in Hilburn to close the game in the bottom of the seventh with the bottom part of the order coming to the plate. Goldsmith hit a liner to left center but Ehrsam galloped in to make a backhanded thigh high catch look deceptively easy. This loomed bigger when Gooding grounded a single past the diving Bernier at third. He went to second on a wild pitch and third when Bernier made a nice backhanded grab of a hopper over the bag and launched a rocket across the diamond to get the out at first.

That brought the dangerous Nutter to the plate but thanks to the Warhawk web gems, there were two outs with a runner at third and Madison still had a two run lead. On an 0-1 pitch, he lofted a fly ball to center that Ehrsam gathered in for the final out.

Madison had rallied in dramatic fashion to win its third game in less than 72 hours. It was a demonstration of outstanding pitching by a total of six different pitchers backed by stellar defense. Tipping his cap to the starting hurlers, Coach Gjormand noted, “MacKeith really kept us off balance all game and Danny did a real good job for us.”

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WARHAWKS TURN TABLES ON WOODSON

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	15	9	2
Woodson	1	5	5

Four weeks ago the Cavaliers delivered a wake up call to the Warhawks by trouncing them 10-4 at Madison. Tonight Madison answered the call and turned the tables on Woodson with a resounding victory on the Cavaliers’ home turf. Will Clarkson and Eli Facenda combined on a five hitter backed by several sparkling plays in the field. Offensively, Madison scored early and often, combining nine hits with seven walks, a hit batsman and five Woodson errors to produce their highest run total in a game in Virginia this season. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand spread the praise noting, “Will did a great job and so did Eli. The defense was outstanding and we had a good approach at the plate. This was a great team win.”

Tyler Wislocki drew the starting pitching duty for the Cavaliers. T.J. Ehrsam got the Warhawks winging off to a good start by beating out a slow roller to third to start the Madison first. Matt Moore smoked a shot over the first baseman’s head and into the right field corner for an RBI double. Moore took third on the throw to the plate in a vain effort to get Ehrsam. With one out, Alex Jacquez brought home the second run with a blast that the center fielder flagged down in left center with a running, leaping catch. The inning ended when Ricardo Perez blistered a ball to right center but the right fielder was playing in the alley and easily made the catch.

Playing their third game on consecutive nights with a fourth game scheduled the next afternoon, Madison sent Will Clarkson to the mound. Max Waizenegger led off for Woodson by grounding a single through the left side of the infield. He stole second and after a strike out advanced to third on a grounder to shortstop. Connor Reilly walked to put runners at the corners. The inning ended when Moore made a good play on a towering fly ball to right. Battling the setting sun, he turned first over his right shoulder and then his left, finally making the catch near the fence.

The Warhawks went quickly in the top of the second. Cam Cassady got an infield single with one out when the second baseman smothered his hard grounder up the middle but Cassady beat the throw to first. He was erased attempting to steal second and the inning ended on a strike out.

Matt Patrick led off the second for the Cavaliers beating out a ground ball to deep short. Kirk Lewis was safe at first when his bunt attempt was bobbled by the third baseman. Then Madison pulled out a couple of web gems. A bunt attempt was popped in fair territory down the third baseline and Jacquez bounded out from behind the plate to get the first out.

Dylan Robeson then hit a hard grounder up the middle that appeared to be a sure RBI single. The Warhawks got a break when the ball hit the second base bag and popped up in the air. Racing to his left, Cassady acrobatically twisted his body back to the right, barehanded the ball after it bounced off his chest and shoveled it to second base to get a force out. It was an amazing play but an even better one would come a few innings later. The inning ended with another force out at second after Scott Bernier grabbed a hot grounder to third.

Nate Favero got things started in the Madison third by reaching base on an error. With Favero running on a full count pitch, Ehrsam hit a rocket off the second baseman’s foot and into short center with Favero motoring to third. Ehrsam promptly stole second. Moore slapped a 2-2 pitch over the third baseman’s head to plate both runners with a single. He was caught stealing and after a strike out, Jacquez fouled off four two strike offerings before reaching base on an error. The inning ending with Perez roping another line drive to right center, this time being robbed of a hit on a diving catch by rightfielder Colin Dempsey.

Leading 4-0, Madison flashed its leather again in the bottom of the third. Brendan Breslin led off with a hot smash to third. Bernier blocked the ball with his chest, collected it and gunned the throw to first for the out. Second baseman Favero followed suit by charging hard on a slow roller and nipping Connor Finnerty by a step at first. After a botched pop up on the infield put a man on with two outs, Clarkson retired the side on a fly ball to right.

In the top of the fourth, Cassady jumped on a hanging breaking pitch and laced a one out single to center. The threat ended on a pair of force outs at second.

Patrick led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single. He was forced at second on a grounder by Lewis. Clarkson tried to pick Lewis off but threw the ball away allowing him to go all the way to third. Dempsey topped a ball to third. Bernier charged the ball and quickly looked the runner back to third but the throw to first was too late to get the speedy Dempsey. With runners at the corners and only one out the Cavaliers had the makings of a rally. Clarkson got out of the jam by getting a grounder to second that Favero, Cassady and Perez turned into a 4-6-3 double play.

Ehrsam started another rally in the fifth for the Warhawks battling through seven pitches to draw a walk. Moore drew a four pitch walk and both runners moved up on Bernier’s sacrifice. Woodson walked Jacquez intentionally to load the bases. Gavin Hillburn pinch ran for Jacquez. With the bases loaded and one out, Wislocki stood with both feet on the rubber about to pitch from the wind up when the fleet Ehrsam took off from third and easily beat the throw home. Perez then scorched a ball for the third time of the night but this time he found a hole up the middle for an RBI single.

That ended the night for Wislocki as Woodson brought in Joe Brendler to pitch. Jonny Graham pinch hit and drove in the third run of the inning with a perfect squeeze bunt down the first baseline. A ground out ended the inning with Madison on top 7-0.

Having pitched four scoreless innings, Madison elected to pull Clarkson in favor of Eli Facenda. Clarkson threw less than fifty pitches, scattered four hits, walked one and struck out one. Coach Gjormand later commented, “That was what we expected from Will. He pounded the stike zone real well. We’re excited to add a pitcher of his caliber to our rotation this late in the season.”

Facenda started the inning striking out the leadoff batter looking. Breslin followed by slicing a drive to the gap in right center that looked like certain extra bases. With the ball tailing back toward him, the left handed Moore made a spectacular grab galloping full tilt to his right and perfectly timing a leap at the last moment then holding onto the ball as he crashed to the ground. It was clearly the top web gem of the night, possibly the season. Oh for a replay to see it again! The inning ended on a fly out to left.

Moore’s phenomenal play may have broken Woodson’s spirit and opened the door for an eight run sixth inning explosion. It began with Facenda leading off by lining a single to left in his first varsity at bat. Rhett Morrisette pinch ran. Favero walked and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. After a fly out to center, Moore was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the infield in, the shortstop couldn’t come up with a hard hit ground ball by Bernier. With a run in and the bases still loaded, Jacquez stepped to the plate and Woodson had no place to put him.

On a 1-0 pitch, he launched a missile to the gap in left center that appeared to still be rising when it hit high off the four tiered fence. The ball bounced off a fence pole and caromed crazily toward the left field foul line. As the left fielder chased the ball down, all three runners scampered home and Jacquez chugged into third with a headfirst slide and a three RBI triple.

Down 11-0, Woodson pulled Brendler in favor of Johnny Herbst. Hilburn pinch ran again for Jacquez. Perez drew a walk and Austin Mellor came in to pinch run. Graham walked on four pitches to load the bases. Everyone moved up on a wild pitch with Hilburn scoring. Chris Powers pinch hit and drove in Mellor with a pop fly single down the left field line.

Woodson pulled Reilly out from behind the plate to pitch. After a strike out, Morrisette pinch hit and walked to load the bases again. Graham scored when the first baseman dropped a throw on Ehrsam’s grounder. Powers scored the final tally of the inning on a wild pitch before Reilly ended it with a strike out.

Facenda got his first pitch of the sixth up and Reilly sent it soaring over the left field fence to put the Cavaliers on the board. Facenda quickly settled down to strike out the next two batters and Austin Chute made a nifty catch and throw on a grounder to short to end it. The crafty southpaw retired six of the seven batters he faced, three on strike outs.

Four weeks ago it seemed everything Woodson did worked and nothing Madison did worked. In this game the roles were reversed. Ironically, both times it was the home team on the short end of the score. It just goes to show you can never take anything for granted in the topsy turvy Liberty District.

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WARHAWKS CHIP AWAY, OVERCOME COUGARS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	7	8	2
Oakton	3	5	3

On a pleasant evening at Oakton, the Cougars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but Madison chipped away with single runs in the third through sixth innings topping it off with three runs in the seventh to overcome Oakton. Gavin Hilburn pitched his second consecutive complete game victory the day after a Warhawk defeat the previous night. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand saluted the effort saying, “Gavin was outstanding. He pounded the strike zone all night and showed what senior leadership is all about.”

Oakton, playing the second of three games on consecutive nights, called up freshman Tyler Prime from the JV to take the mound. On his third varsity pitch, T.J. Ehrsam lashed a double down the third baseline. When a third strike momentarily eluded the catcher, Ehrsam took third as the catcher made the throw to first for the out. He was stranded there on a pair of infield pop ups.

Luke Willis led off the bottom of the first with a hard grounder up the middle for a single. He was running with the pitch as Chris Hanson hit a hard grounder off the first baseman’s glove. Willis raced to third and Hanson was safe at first on the error. Willis scored as Hanson was erased at second on Bobby McCormick’s RBI grounder to short. The inning ended when Hilburn dialed 6-4-3 for a nifty Cassady to Favero to Perez double play.

After a pop up to start the second, Cam Cassady drew a walk and Ryan McGuire was hit by a pitch to put two men on with one out. The inning quickly ended on a hard grounder up the middle that Willis ranged far to his left to snare, step on second and relay to first for a double play. In the Oakton second, Daniel Hanson blooped a one out single over the second baseman’s head but was stranded on a pair of ground outs.

Nate Favero led off the third for Madison by ripping a single up the middle. He started to steal second but got a poor jump and momentarily hesitated part way to second. The catcher’s throw was several feet to the left field side of second enabling Favero to avoid the tag. The error became costly for Oakton when Matt Moore lined a double into the right field corner to drive in Favero.

With one out, the Warhawks appeared poised to take the lead. However, when Scott Bernier hit a hard grounder to third, Moore got caught off second. He got in a rundown in an effort to allow Bernier to hustle into second. Unfortunately, Bernier slid into second the same time Moore slid back into second. Moore was tagged out just before he got to the bag. When the umpire called Moore out, Bernier, thinking he had been called out, left the base and was tagged out for a double play that was as bizarre as it was confusing. Fortunately, since it ultimately didn’t affect the outcome of the game, it can now laughingly be dubbed as the Madison rendition of “Who’s on Second?”

Hilburn quickly returned some sanity to the game by retiring the Cougars in order in the bottom of the third. Cassady turned in a web gem to end the inning on a hard grounder that hit off the side of the mound. Ranging far to his left, he snagged the ball behind second base and made a strong throw to first to get the batter by a step.

With one out in the top of the fourth, Ricardo Perez tagged a ball into the left field corner and rumbled into second with a headfirst slide. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground out by Cassady.

McCormick walked on four pitches leading off the bottom of the fourth. The walk broke a string of five straight batters retired by Hilburn who promptly retired the next six batters consecutively.

Meanwhile, the Warhawks continued to chip away with single runs in the fifth and sixth. Joe Corrigan led off the fifth with a walk, moved to second on a Favero sacrifice and scored on a two out single to left by Moore. In the sixth, Alex Jacquez jacked a solo home run to the flagpole in left center.

Oakton narrowed the score to 4-2 in their half of the sixth. Willis led off with a line drive single to left field. When the left fielder overthrew the cutoff man, Willis alertly took second. He went to third on a grounder to second and scored when McCormick grounded out to second. The inning ended on the game’s fifth comebacker to Hilburn.

Looking for some insurance runs, Madison pinch hit Rhett Morrisette to lead off the seventh. He blooped a 1-1 pitch just out of reach of the shortstop. Corrigan followed with a bullet up the middle to put runners at first and second. Oakton pulled Prime and brought in senior Ryan O’Gorman to try to quell the rally.

Favero once again executed a perfect sacrifice to move the runners up and Ehrsam was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the infield in, Morrisette scored when Moore smashed a grounder to first. Trevor Falk made a fine diving stop but by the time he got to his feet, his only play was at first. With a run in and runners at second and third, Bernier topped a ball on the third base side of the mound. The pitcher hurried his throw to first and threw the ball away allowing Corrigan and Ehrsam to score. The inning ended with a fly to center.

The larger lead loomed big when Adam Henne led off the bottom of the seventh with a homer to left center. With one out, freshman Chrystian Brown drilled a single to right in his first varsity at bat. Fittingly, the game ended on a final comebacker to Hilburn who coolly started a 1-6-3 double play.

On the night, Hilburn threw fewer than 80 pitches, striking out two while walking only one. Hilburn was remarkably efficient; only once did he have a three ball count on a batter. Two of the three Oakton runs were unearned.

For his part, Prime handled the Madison attack well. Though not overpowering, he kept the ball down all night and mixed in some nice breaking pitches. Moore had two hits and three RBI to key the Warhawk offense. Coach Gjormand summed it up noting, “They put a young pitcher on the bump and we did what we had to do. We haven’t beaten Oakton for a couple of years so it was big to win tonight. Coach Janis is a great coach and they will continue to be a tough team to beat for years to come.”

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HIGHLANDER HURLER HANDCUFFS MADISON

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	1	7	3
McLean	7	6	0

On another chilly night at Madison, McLean’s Sean Fitzgerald pitched as though he was in a hurry to get back in the dugout and put on his jacket. Taking little time between pitches, he tossed a complete game victory, needing only 93 pitches to record ten strike outs. He scattered seven hits and issued no walks other than an intentional one. McLean only managed six hits but bunched three in a three run third and two in a four run sixth. That, combined with flawless defense, was more than enough for the Highlanders on this night.

Andrew Baird started on the mound for Madison. Cam Cassady made a fine play on the first pitch of the game charging a grounder to short to get the out at first with an off balance throw. Baird walked Chris Russo on a 3-2 pitch. He struck out Fitzgerald on a full count with Russo running and Alex Jacquez fired a bullet to Nate Favero covering second to nail Russo and end the inning.

In the Madison first, Teddy Turner laced a single to center with one out. Scott Bernier followed with a fly ball double just inside the right field line. Turner was unable to score because he initially had to hold at first as Charles Geiger narrowly missed a diving catch. With one out and runners at second and third, McLean intentionally walked Jacquez.

With the bases loaded, Ricardo Perez hit the first pitch on a line to right field. Geiger raced in, caught the ball chest high and fired a perfect one hop throw to catcher Denis Buckley who blocked the plate and tagged Turner to complete the double play. It was a costly play because not only did it end the inning but Turner reinjured his ankle and left the game. It was a sign of things to come.

Erik Payne led off the second for the Highlanders by singling to right. He went to second on a bad throw back to Bayer. After a strike out on a 3-2 pitch, Payne strayed too far off second on a grounder to short and was tagged out diving back to the base. The inning ended on another grounder to short.

In the Warhawk second, Matt Moore blasted a double over the center fielder’s head with two outs. After fouling off three 0-2 pitches, Favero hit a ball hard but right at the left fielder to end the inning.

Geiger led off the third for McLean by hitting a grounder to third. The ball took a tricky hop but Bernier made a bare hand grab and got the out at first. James Oldenburg fell behind in the count 1-2 before getting hit with a full count pitch to bring up the top of the order. Riley Beiro hit a fly ball down the left field line that landed just fair for a double with Oldenburg stopping at third.

With runners at second and third, Bernier charged for a bunt but Russo swung away and hit a high chopper. Bernier leaped for the ball but it went off the tip of his glove for an RBI single moving Beiro to third. Fitzgerald scored Beiro on a grounder to short with Russo taking second. Russo scored on a single to right by Payne. The inning ended on a strike out with McLean up 3-0. But for the ball hit just out of Bernier’s reach it might have still been a scoreless ballgame.

The Highlander rally seemed to pump up Fitzgerald who struck out the side in the bottom of the third. He got the first two Warhawk batters looking at called strikes. With two outs, Bernier deposited the first pitch he saw over the center field fence just to the right of the flagpole. Fitzgerald went to a full count on the next batter, his only three ball count of the night, before getting another strike out on a checked swing.

Bernier made another fine play leading off the fourth fielding a bunt behind the mound and getting the out at first. Will Clarkson made a nice running catch of a drive to left on yet another 3-2 pitch. With two outs, Geiger walked on a full count but the inning ended on a fly to left.

Perez led off the fourth by launching a double to left center that hit the fence on a bounce just to the left of the 415 foot sign. Cassady popped up a bunt and Perez initially broke back to second. When the ball fell to the ground, Perez started for third belatedly. Fitzgerald fielded the ball and ran at Perez who was ultimately tagged out in a rundown by the third baseman. With Cassady on first, Fitzgerald made a couple of pick off attempts and got him on the third try. He ended the inning with a strike out.

Bayer set down the top of the McLean order 1-2-3 in the fifth needing just five pitches. Fitzgerald gave up only a two out infield single to T.J. Ehrsam in the bottom of the fifth.

Ominously, Payne started the sixth for the Highlanders by walking on a 3-2 pitch, the seventh time Bayer had gone to a full count. Ahead 1-2, he hit Buckley with a pitch and Chase Mills pinch ran for Buckley. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Payne scored as Jordan Ghanam lined a single to center on a 1-2 pitch and Mills also scored when the ball was mishandled by the center fielder. William Burleson pinch ran and Eli Facenda came in to pitch for Madison.

Burleson attempted to advance to second when a Facenda pitch kicked away from Jacquez. He was safe when the second baseman couldn’t come up with the throw. Geiger struck out for what would have been the third out of the inning. Oldenburg brought home Burleson with an RBI double then scored the fourth run of the inning on an infield error. Facenda picked Beiro off first to end the inning but the way Fitzgerald was pitching, McLean had an insurmountable lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Fitzgerald retired Madison in order striking out the first two batters. Facenda gave up a lead off walk in the seventh but retired the next three hitters, two on strike outs. Fitzgerald struck out the first two Warhawks in the bottom of the seventh before Moore drilled a double down the left field line. Fitzgerald ended the game by getting an infield pop up.

Fitzgerald presented an unusual look to Madison’s batters. A lanky righthander, he has a three quarters delivery, jerking a bit as he pivots and seems to launch the ball from behind his right ear. He worked so quickly it was as if every offering was a quick pitch. When he missed his spots the Warhawks hit the ball hard. Unfortunately, he didn’t miss often and some of Madison’s hardest hit balls were right at people or foul. Amazingly, 73 of his 93 pitches were strikes.

Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “We had good energy early but the right fielder made a nice throw to end the first inning. It would have been good to get an early lead. They played well and we missed some opportunities. We put too many guys on base against an experienced team.”

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WARHAWKS SLIDE PAST SCRAPPY SEAHAWKS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	5	7	1
South Lakes	4	7	1

Less than 24 hours after playing a good game against a quality opponent in a tough loss to Stone Bridge, the Madison Warhawks came away with a narrow victory against a very different opponent. South Lakes came into the game winless in Liberty District competition and with a single win on the season. They are a remarkably young team that for most of the game put only two seniors on the field with three sophomores and four freshmen. Making things tougher for the Seahawks was they were playing their third game in three days. To add insult to injury, the game was played at Madison because the field at South Lakes was once again unplayable. Due to poor drainage, all but one of the Seahawks “home” games have been moved to their opponent’s field.

Against this backdrop, Madison may have come into the game overconfident but the hardluck Seahawks fought gamely. South Lakes battled back from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits to tie the game in the top of the fifth and Madison scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth when pinch runner Austin Mellor slid home after a wild pitch. Gavin Hilburn pitched a complete game victory and Madison’s seven hits came from just three batters, Alex Jacquez leading the way with three plus two apiece from T.J. Ehrsam and Cam Cassady. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand noted, “It wasn’t pretty but every win in the Liberty District is important. It is great to finish the first half of the season 5-2.”

Hilburn retired the side in order in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Jordan Hataway took the mound for South Lakes. Ehrsam led off with a line drive single to left but after a fly out to center he was erased when a ball was hit hard to third resulting in an around the horn double play.

Hilburn again pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second. In the Madison half, Jacquez led off with a hard ground ball through the left side of the infield for a single. Will Clarkson pinch ran and promptly stole second. Ryan McGuire struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt but when the ball got away from the catcher, he hustled to first with Clarkson heading to third. When the catcher’s throw to first was off line, McGuire was safe and Clarkson scored. Cassady followed with a superb bunt down the third base line that he beat out for a hit with McGuire moving to second. Chris Powers moved the runners up with a nice sacrifice that the first baseman fielded and threw to the second baseman covering first.

With runners on second and third, Matt Moore walked on a full count pitch to load the bases. After a pop out to second, Ehrsam poked a soft liner to right to plate McGuire. Teddy Turner drew a four pitch walk to force home Cassady with the third run and it appeared a rout was in the offing. However, South Lakes pulled Hataway and brought in Billy McLaughlin with the bases loaded. On a 3-1 pitch, he got a high chopper to third and the third baseman barely beat Moore to third to end the inning.

In the top of the third, it appeared the Madison outfielders were playing so shallow that they were daring the Seahawk batters to hit the ball over their head. Tyler Siqueiros obliged by hitting a lead off double over the left fielder’s head. David Odlen’s sacrifice moved Siqueiros to third and he scored when Austin Schweppe launched a double over the right fielder’s head. Ryan Forrest then topped a ball down the third base line. It appeared it was about to go foul when Hilburn picked it up and threw to first too late to get the out.

With runners at the corners, Forrest tried to steal second. Jacquez gunned a perfect throw to Cassady who managed to hold the runner at third while running down Forrest as he retreated toward first. That was a huge out as McLaughlin completed the trifecta by blasting a ball over the center fielder’s head for the third double of the inning. Hilburn hit Wilfredo Corps-Ortiz with a pitch but got out of the inning on a high fly to center. Miraculously, the Warhawks escaped what could have been a big inning giving up only two runs thanks mainly to the Jacquez-Cassady collaboration on the attempted steal of second.

In the bottom of the third, Jacquez led off by smashing a one hopper over the third base bag that raised chalk dust as it hit the foul line just past the base. Jacquez hustled into second with a double and once again Clarkson pinch ran. After stealing third, he scored when McGuire hit a sacrifice fly to center field. With one out, Cassady crushed one over the center fielder’s head and galloped around to third for a one out triple. He was stranded there on a comebacker to the pitcher and a strike out.

The fourth inning went quietly for both sides. Hilburn surrendered only a two out single by Siqueiros and McLaughlin made his final inning of work a short one retiring the Warhawks in order.

The fifth began with Hilburn striking out the first batter then surrendering back to back ground ball singles to Forrest and McLaughlin to put runners at first and second. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and then disaster struck. Corps-Ortiz hit a grounder to short and the runner at third held while the runner at second crossed in front of the shortstop heading for third. The Seahawks essentially had two runners on third but the shortstop elected to go for the out at first. That backfired when he unleashed a high throw to first base that allowed both runners to score and tie the game at 4-4.

Corps-Ortiz stole second and advanced to third on a fly out to right. With two outs, the go ahead run at third and a full count, Nick Beaulac topped a ball down the third base line. Scott Bernier charged the ball and rifled a perfect running throw to first to retire the side. It is a play he has made several times this year but it never gets old watching it happen again. Coach Gjormand later commented, “Scotty makes plays on the run and takes away the short game which is big in high school baseball.”

Will Sweet, a sidearming righty, took the mound for South Lakes in the bottom of the fifth. The Warhawks began the inning meekly with a called strike three. Jacquez stroked a one out double to right and Mellor pinch ran. He promptly got a great jump off second and stole third with an aggressive slide. When an outside pitch to McGuire ticked off the catcher’s glove, Mellor alertly bolted for the plate despite the short Madison backstop. He beat the play at the plate handily with another quick slide to put the Warhawks back on top. McGuire ultimately walked and pinch runner Joe Corrigan stole second but was stranded there when Sweet made a good play on a pop up and then got a fly ball to right.

Hilburn retired the first two batters in the sixth on a comebacker and a strike out. After getting ahead on Odlen 0-2, he issued a two out walk. He retired the side on a fly to right. Sweet struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth and Hilburn set the Seahawks down in order in the top of the seventh ending the game on a called strike three on a nasty breaking ball.

Hilburn took nearly 90 pitches to register the first complete game by a Madison hurler this season. Only two of the four runs he gave up were earned and he struck out five while hitting a batter in addition to walking one.

The game was a makeup of a rainout four days earlier. Aside from the absence of Ricardo Perez who had already planned a college visit for the day, everything else seemed stacked in the Warhawk’s favor. Yet on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the young, scrappy Seahawks almost rained on Madison’s parade. The red and black escaped by the skin on their beak.

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BULLDOGS’ BIG FIFTH FRUSTRATES MADISON

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	6	9	2
Stone Bridge	8	8	4

Trailing 5-1 entering the fifth, the Stone Bridge Bulldogs sent ten men to the plate and bunched five hits and a pair of walks to score six runs in a rally that keyed a come from behind victory. Johnny Bladel pitched a complete game throwing almost 110 pitches and coming up with some timely strike outs and a couple of key double plays. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand noted, “That’s Liberty District baseball. They got some good swings in the fifth. They are the defending champs and they are the team everyone has to beat.”

Until the decisive fifth, it appeared to be the Warhawks night. Andrew Bayer started for Madison and retired the side in order in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Teddy Turner smashed a one out grounder just inside the first base bag and into the right field corner, galloping to third with a headfirst slide for a triple. With the infield back, Scott Bernier brought home Turner with a grounder to shortstop.

J.J. White led off the top of the second by grounding a single up the middle. Dillon Berger pinch ran for White. After a strike out, Patrick Thompson doubled to right center to tie the game. He moved to third on a comebacker to Bayer and the inning ended when Bernier made a fine play to charge a slow roller to third and gun the batter out at first.

Madison came back to regain the lead in the bottom of the second. With one out, Ryan McGuire beat out a slow chopper to shortstop. He advanced to second on a grounder to first and third when the shortstop booted Matt Moore’s two out grounder. With runners at the corners, Bladel tried to pick Moore off first and threw the ball away allowing McGuire to score with Moore taking second. The inning ended when Moore broke too soon off second and Bladel nailed him at third.

Bayer set the Bulldogs down in order in the top of the third on a pair of strike outs sandwiched around a fly to left while the Warhawks picked up another run in the bottom of the inning. Nate Favero led off with a ground ball up the middle for a hit. T.J. Ehrsam flared one over the second baseman’s head for a single. With runners on first and second, Turner laid an excellent bunt down the third base line and beat the throw to first to load the bases. Favero scored on a 4-6-3 double play and the inning ended with shortstop Pat Piccolo making a nice play on a pop up to center field.

Bayer retired the first two batters in the fourth before hitting Michael Prince. After Prince stole second, Bayer ended the mild threat by inducing an inning ending grounder to short.

The Madison fourth began quietly with Ricardo Perez coaxing a walk on a full count. Austin Mellor pinch ran and advanced to second on a ground out to the second baseman. Mellor tried to steal third and was safe on a bad throw by the catcher. Cam Cassady walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Moore brought home Mellor with a single to center with Cassady advancing to third. Cassady scored on a nice bunt by Favero down the first base line with Moore taking second. With Madison leading 5-1, the inning ended when Bladel got a called third strike. Although the Warhawks seemed to be in command, the way the inning ended was a hint of things to come.

The bottom of the order got things started for the Bulldogs in the fifth. As the inning began, Bayer had retired eight of the last nine Bulldog batters he had faced. However, he seemed to lose some control and velocity after the Warhawks lengthy turn at bat in the bottom of the fourth. Michael Mattingly led off by grounding a single through the hole between first and second. Bryce Williams followed with a walk and Piccolo fouled off a two strike pitch before drawing a walk on a full count, the only walks Bayer issued. Coach Gjormand later said, “Andrew was real sharp early but just struggled a bit in the fifth.”

With no outs, the bases loaded and lefty leadoff hitter Spenser Rositano coming up, Madison brought in southpaw Eli Facenda. Since Bayer had been cruising along coming into the inning, Facenda didn’t have a lot of time to warm up and it appeared to affect him. He got some of his pitches up and was promptly greeted by back to back two run doubles. On a 1-0 pitch, Rositano launched a drive to left center just beyond the grasp of the diving Ehrsam. On the next pitch, Taylor Lambke smashed a grounder down the third base line just past the diving Bernier to tie the game.

Ehrsam raced to deep left center to record the first out on a drive by Bladel. Lambke scored to give Stone Bridge the lead when White hit a bullet up the middle for an RBI single. Berger again ran for White and took second as Bernier made another fine play fielding a slow roller to third and rifling a throw to first to nail the batter. With two outs, Thompson drove home the final run of the inning with a line drive just out of the reach of the second baseman. Ehrsam made another catch in center after a long run to end the inning but the Bulldog rally had turned a 5-1 deficit into a 7-5 lead.

Undaunted, the Warhawks battled back in their half of the fifth. Turner led off with a shot to left center for a double. Will Clarkson pinch ran and Bernier plated him with a line drive to right for his second RBI of the night. Joe Corrigan pinch ran and after a pop up, Perez singled to right. Corrigan initially stopped at second, then took off for third. He was safe as the right fielder’s throw was off line allowing Perez to move to second. With runners at second and third, one out and a one run lead, things looked promising for Madison when the infield moved in to cut off the run at the plate. However, Bladel reached back for a strike out on a breaking ball in the dirt that catcher White managed to block, hold the runner at third and make the throw to first for the out. Bladel retired the side when he got a called third strike on a full count pitch.

Danny Cate came in to pitch for Madison in the top of the sixth. After a lead off strike out, the pesky Piccolo got a hustle double on a pop fly down the right field line on which Moore just missed making a diving catch. Cate coolly retired the side on a grounder to second and a pop up to short.

Despite having thrown nearly 80 pitches, Bladel seemed energized by the strike outs he got to end the previous inning. After giving up runs in each of the first five innings, he set Warhawks down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

Bladel led off the seventh with a slowly hit ball up the middle. The shortstop rushed the throw and it went past first and stuck in the fence so Bladel was awarded second. He took third on another infield error and scored on a passed ball on a call at the plate that could have gone either way. The inning ended with a pop up, ground out and strike out, but Stone Bridge had managed to pick up an important insurance run without hitting a ball out of the infield.

The unearned run the Bulldogs added in the top of the seventh loomed large with Turner leading off the Warhawks last turn at bat. Coming to the plate with a 3 for 3 night, he quickly fell behind in the count and fouled off a two strike pitch before coaxing a walk on a full count. After a strike out, Turner took second on a passed ball and with first base open, Bladel pitched carefully to Alex Jacquez and walked him. The game ended on a short to second to first double play.

It was a frustrating loss to say the least. Other than the top of the fifth, Madison dominated the game. Even after that pivotal inning, they played with intensity and never quit. Coach Gjormand summed it up, “We’re growing up and we really battled. We never stopped and gave ourselves a shot to win it in the seventh. I’m proud of my guys.”

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WARHAWKS WEAR DOWN WILDCATS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	16	11	5
West Ashley	6	6	7

The Madison Warhawks exploded for eight runs in the seventh inning to break open a close game and defeat the West Ashley Wildcats 16-6 on their home field. Chris Powers, Will Clarkson and Alex Jacquez combined to limit the Wildcats to six hits while the Warhawk attack featured eleven hits led by Rhett Morrisette with three and Ryan McGuire and Clarkson with two apiece. McGuire, Clarkson and Joe Corrigan also belted homers. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand commented, “Chris did a nice job on the mound and we had a good approach at the plate today.”

The game was much closer than the final score indicates. In fact, for the first six innings, it was a tight see saw affair. West Ashley started Kyle Blalock on the mound and he set the side down in order in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the first, Chris Powers took the hill for Madison. The leadoff batter for the Wildcats, Jamie Brown, got new life when his foul pop up was dropped. He immediately capitalized by driving a pitch over the left field fence. Ethan Mayo reached base on an error, stole second and eventually scored all the way from second on a wild pitch that went all the way to the distant backstop. Powers got two outs on a fly ball and a strike out but Sean Garvin reached on an infield single. An error put runners at the corners but Powers ended the threat by getting a ground out.

Trailing 2-0, the Warhawks offense got untracked in the top of the second. McGuire led off with a bloop single to right and Powers singled sharply through the left side. After a strike out, Austin Chute lofted a fly ball to left that went off the outfielder’s glove. The runners had to hold up to see if the ball would be caught so the bases were loaded for Morrisette. He jumped on the first pitch and pounded a drive to left center to clear the bases and give Madison a 3-2 lead. The inning ended when David Belt hit a line drive that hung up long enough for the centerfielder to make a nice running catch.

West Ashley responded in the bottom of the second. Taylor Hart reached base on an error to lead off the inning. With two outs, Mayo doubled off Morrisette’s glove in right to drive in Hart. Nick Berry followed with a home run to left to put the Wildcats back on top 5-3. After a hit batsman Powers ended the inning with a strike out.

Madison took advantage of a Wildcat mistake to come back in the top of the third. With one out, Corrigan struck out but he alertly bolted to first when he swung at a breaking ball in the dirt that eluded the catcher on strike three. McGuire jumped on the next pitch and launched it over the left field fence for a two run homer. Blalock retired the side on a ground out and a fly out.

With the score tied at 5, Powers pitched a strong third with the help of battery mate Jay Kenyon. Kenyon recorded the first out by running down a foul pop up on the right side. The second batter struck out on a breaking pitch in the dirt. Unlike his Wildcat counterpart, Kenyon blocked the pitch and made the throw to first for the out. He almost got the third out of the inning when Hart reached on a walk and tried to steal second. Kenyon’s throw to second was on the money but the ball popped out of the second baseman’s glove as he applied the tag. Powers caught Blalock looking at a third strike to end the inning.

Austin Chute led off the fourth for Madison by reaching base on an error. Morrisette followed by muscling another double to left, this time a shot down the line. With two men on and no outs, West Ashley pulled Blalock in favor of lefty Thomas Woodhead. The potential for a rally dimmed after a pair of strike outs, but with a full count Will Clarkson clobbered one over the fence in left to bring in three runs and put Madison back on top 8-5. Woodhead closed the inning with a strike out.

The Wildcats fought back in their half of the fourth. With one out, Mayo hit a home run to left center and Berry followed with a single to left. After a strike out, an infield error put two men on but Powers ended the threat by getting a pop up to first.

McGuire led off the Madison fifth by fouling off four two strike pitches before being called out on a dubious check swing call. Powers followed by crushing a ball back up the middle for a hit. Woodhead retired the next two batters on called third strikes.

With Madison clinging to an 8-6 lead, Powers was pulled in the fifth after walking the first two batters on 3-2 pitches. He gave up six hits but only one of the six runs he gave up was earned. He also hit a batter, walked a pair and struck out five.

Clarkson came in with the tying runs on base and no outs. Corrigan got the first out by making a shoestring catch of a pop up in shallow center. After the runners moved up on a wild pitch, Clarkson struck out the next two batters. The inning ended with Kenyon blocking a third strike breaking ball in the dirt and making the throw to first.

The Warhawks went quietly in the sixth. Morrisette led off by reaching base on an error but Woodhead struck out the next two hitters. When Clarkson managed to pop out to end the inning, he became the first batter retired by Woodhead who did not strike out. In the impressive string, Woodhead got his first four outs on swinging strikes and the next four on called strikes.

Fortunately, Clarkson matched Woodhead in the bottom of the sixth by retiring the side in order on a fly ball and two strike outs. Once again the inning ended with Kenyon blocking a third strike breaking ball in the dirt and making the throw to first.

The decisive seventh began meekly for Madison. Corrigan coaxed a leadoff walk on a full count pitch. Zach Schwatka laid a perfect bunt down the first baseline for a hit. A comebacker to Woodhead advanced the runners to second and third with one out. With only a two run lead, the Warhawks tried to push another run across and wound up winning the lottery.

Kenyon laid down a good bunt to the right side of the mound. Woodhead came off the mound and rushed his throw to the plate and it went to the backstop allowing both Corrigan and Schwatka to score and Kenyon to take second. When Kenyon rounded second, he saw third was uncovered and kept rolling. The catcher retrieved the ball at the backstop and tried to get Kenyon at third but threw the ball away and Kenyon rumbled home with a three run “bunt home run.”

Next Woodhead hit Chute with a pitch on a 1-2 count. Chute took second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Morrisette. Woodhead recorded his ninth strike out for the second out of the inning but then he hit Austin Mellor with a pitch. Clarkson fouled off three two strike pitches before lining a single to left to drive in Morrisette.

That hit finished the day for Woodhead. The gutsy lefty pitched well but somehow Madison had manufactured five runs in the inning with only two balls hit out of the infield. Things went from bad to worse for the Wildcats as Corrigan greeted the reliever by hitting the ball not just out of the infield but out of the ballpark for a three run homer to close the scoring.

Madison had warmed up Jacquez to pitch the seventh anticipating the need to protect a two or three run lead. He came in instead with a ten run cushion and made a leaping grab on a hard hit comebacker to retire the leadoff hitter. The next hitter struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt which Kenyon once again blocked and fired to first for the out. Belt grabbed a grounder to third and made the throw across the diamond to get the final out of the game.

On a beautiful day for baseball, a hard fought game had ended in a rout. Coach Gjormand summed it up saying, “These guys did a wonderful job showing our fans what they do every day in practice.”

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MADISON OUTHAWKS HOST HANAHAN

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	10	10	1
Hanahan	4	8	2

In their final game of the 2009 Hanahan Invitational Tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, the Madison Warhawks quickly jumped in front and led wire to wire against the Hanahan Hawks on the host team’s field. In the process, three similarities between Chicago and Charleston were noted: both start with “Ch;” both can be very windy; and both have bandboxes for ballparks. The fence at Hanahan’s field is about 320 feet down each foul line, a typical high school dimension. What is unusual is that the distance stays the same around the entire perimeter of the outfield. Though the fence is double tiered from straightaway left to straightaway right, it is not just a short porch in the power alleys and center, it is a short wraparound porch.

Madison took advantage of these friendly confines to pick up half its runs on three homers while Hanahan collected three runs on a pair of fly ball round trippers. Andrew Bayer pitched 6 strong innings and the Warhawks collected 10 hits in total led by T.J. Ehrsam, Scott Bernier and Alex Jacquez with two hits apiece. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand noted that, “We beat a team that has already clinched its district championship. We did a good job in an early afternoon game bouncing back from losing a tough game late last night.”

Ehrsam got things rolling leading off the top of the first with a line drive single to right. After a strike out and an Ehrsam steal of second, Bernier was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a double steal and Ehrsam scored the first run of the game on a passed ball with Bernier taking third. Jacquez blooped a single to left to drive in Bernier. Gavin Hilburn pinch ran and Ricardo Perez drilled a solid double to right center to put runners at second and third. Cam Cassady roped one over the shortstop’s head to drive in Hilburn and put Perez at third. Cassady then stole second but the inning ended on a pair of strike outs. The Hanahan pitcher, Erick Sanderson, had struck out the side but had also given up three runs on four hits.

Bayer retired the first two Hawk batters in the bottom of the first before surrendering a double to Sanderson. Chanler Cox singled to right but Matt Moore charged the ball hard to hold the runner at third. The inning ended on a comebacker to Bayer.

With one out in the second, Ehrsam started a rally once again laying down an excellent bunt for a hit. With Ehrsam running, lefty Teddy Turner slapped a ball through the hole vacated when the shortstop covered second. Ehrsam motored to third on the hit. With runners at the corners, Turner took off for second and the catcher’s throw sailed into center to bring Ehrsam home and put Turner on third. He trotted home when Bernier lofted a ball over the scoreboard in right. Jacquez walked but the inning ended on a ground out and a strike out. Madison led 6-0.

In the bottom of the second, Hunter Bessinger led off with a fly ball near the fence in right that fell for a double. Deniel Haas was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Jacquez got the first out by picking Bessinger off second with a laser beam throw. After a force out, John Piggott popped a two out, two run homer over the fence in right center. Bayer ended the inning on a strike out.

Moore hit a home run to the same spot as Piggott in the Warhawk third. It was an otherwise quiet inning with two fly outs and a ground out.

In the Hanahan third a one out walk and a single by Cox put two men on. On a high chopper to third, Bernier stepped on the bag for the force out but threw the ball away attempting to get the double play at first to put runners at second and third. Bessinger then hit a weak pop up part way down the first baseline too low to allow the pitcher or first baseman to make a play. Jacquez had a shot at a tough catch but cleanly missed the ball for a hit. The runner from third scored but when the runner from second attempted to score, Jacquez raced to the plate to tag him out and end the inning.

The fourth inning went quietly for both teams. With one out Bernier was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a passed ball. He was thrown out at third attempting to advance on a ground ball to short. A ground ball ended the inning for Madison.

In the Hanahan half of the fourth, Moore made a spectacular catch in right sprinting to his left, battling the sun and making a backhanded grab before tumbling across the foul line. That play loomed especially big when Piggott followed with a single and stole second but he was stranded there. Madison led 7-3 at the end of four innings but no lead feels safe when you’re playing in a bandbox.

Cassady led off the fifth with a walk. Sanderson caught Cassady leaning toward second but he threw wildly to first allowing Cassady to gallop to third. After a fly out, Moore laid down a good bunt to the first base side of the mound. Sanderson chose to go home but his hurried throw was off line allowing Cassady to score and Moore to take second. Nate Favero moved him to third with a sacrifice but the inning ended on a ground out.

Bryce Hines drew a leadoff walk for Hanahan in the fifth. He was erased when Sanderson hit a line drive right at shortstop Cassady who coolly made the catch and a strong throw to first to double off Hines. This was a big break as Cox followed with a fly ball over the fence in right center for a solo homer.

The Hawks brought in Cox to pitch the sixth as Sanderson had thrown almost 100 pitches. The sidearming righty struck out the first batter he faced but Bernier stroked a hit to right. Jacquez followed with a hard hit ball to right that barely cleared the single tier fence just to the right of where the double tier begins. The two run shot gave the Warhawks a 10-4 lead. Cassady later walked but was stranded as the inning ended.

Bessinger led off the bottom of the sixth for Hanahan beating out a slow roller to short. He was quickly wiped out when Favero, Cassady and Perez turned a 4-6-3 double play. Bayer ended the inning by inducing a fly to right.

Cox retired the Warhawks in order in the top of the seventh picking up two more strike outs. Madison brought in Turner to close the game. With one out, Bret Hines reached base on an infield error. After a fly out, Hanahan got another chance to view the Jacquez cannon. Trailing by six runs, the runner took off for second when a pitch in the dirt kicked away from the Madison receiver who pounced on the ball and launched another missile to Cassady who applied the tag for the final out.

In six innings, Bayer threw almost 80 pitches, giving up three runs on a pair of bandbox homers and a fourth run that was unearned. He gave up eight hits, walked a pair and struck out three. Coach Gjormand commented, “Andrew was very effective pitching with a lead in a ballpark where you can never relax.” Six of the ten Madison hits went to the opposite field prompting the Coach to also say, “We did a great job hitting the balls where they were pitched.”

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MIAMI’S MARTINEZ TAMES MADISON

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	4	5	3
Miami	6	8	0

On a chilly night at West Ashley High School, the hottest thing on the field was the right arm of sophomore pitcher Orgen Martinez who tonight looked like Pedro Martinez in his prime. The pitcher for Krop High threw 118 pitches in a complete game effort giving up only five hits and striking out ten. The Warhawks wasted good pitching efforts from Danny Cate and Eli Facenda who pitched much better than the statistics showed. Three of Krop’s most damaging hits were seeing eye bloopers and Madison contributed to their own downfall with a couple of damaging errors in the field as well as some mental errors. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “I tip my hat to Martinez, he got better as the game went on. It would have been nice to get another couple of runs in the first inning. We didn’t capitalize on some opportunities and they got some breaks.”

The game began well for the Warhawks who were the home team. Danny Cate gave up a lead off hit to Frederick Kondla, a poorly hit ball to the right of the mound that could have been an out with more heads up defense. It was a sign of things to come although in this particular inning it didn’t hurt Madison. Cate promptly struck out the next batter and then Cam Cassady started a slick short to second for first double play to end the inning.

T.J. Ehrsam started things in the bottom of the first drilling a line drive through the box that nearly undressed Martinez. Jonny Graham was hit with a 3-1 pitch to put two men on. Scott Bernier laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners up and bring Alex Jacquez to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch he blasted a double to left center that hit the fence on a bounce and drove in both runners. Gavin Hilburn pinch ran for Jacquez and Ricardo Perez drew a full count walk. A passed ball put runners at second and third with only one out. With the infield in, Cassady hit the ball hard but right at the shortstop who held the runners and got the out at first. The inning ended on a grounder to second.

In the top of the second, Henri Thomas lined a lead off single to left for Krop. He was erased on the next pitch when Bernier made an excellent grab of a hot smash to start an around the horn double play. After a hit batsman and a walk put two men on, the inning ended when Jacquez hustled to snag a weak foul pop up down the first baseline. It was the only looper Krop hit all night that didn’t find a way to fall in.

Martinez hit his stride in the second inning retiring the Warhawks in order striking out a pair of batters. In the top of the third, Cate quickly retired the first two batters. Harry Germus doubled to left center and a walk and a throwing error put runners at second and third with two outs. The inning ended when Perez dove to his left to smother a hard smash headed down the right field line, scrambled to his feet and underhanded a toss to Cate covering first for the out.

Martinez continued his dominance in the third. After striking out the first Madison batter and getting the second out to retire his seventh consecutive batter, he carefully to Jacquez issuing a five pitch walk. Hilburn pinch ran again and stole second but the threat expired on another strike out.

The disastrous top of the fourth began with Emilio Arteta getting hit with a 1-1 pitch. Shawn Humphreys followed with a perfectly placed pop up just fair down the left field line and barely out of reach of the shortstop and left fielder. Everyone was safe when a chopper past the mound was mishandled to load the bases. Designated hitter Matthew Marino followed with a solid double to left to drive in a pair of runs. After a walk reloaded the bases, lead off hitter Kondla hit a pop fly to center that fell in the middle of four Warhawks. Although scored a hit because no one touched the ball, it could have been caught with better communication.

The throw home failed to nail Marino leaving runners at second and third with no outs. Germus hit a liner to left that Graham caught moving toward the plate. The runner on third tagged and Graham’s one hop throw to Jacquez was perfect but the runner was called safe on a bang bang play. It appeared the runner left third early but South Carolina rules prohibit an appeal of such a call. Obviously, there is no way the lone base ump can both monitor the ball being caught in the outfield and the runner properly tagging up. Coach Gjormand admitted, “It is unfortunate but it is the rule they play by in South Carolina.” So much for southern hospitality.

Cate struck out the next batter and retired the side when the speedy Ehrsam snared a long fly in center but the damage was done. In four innings, Cate gave up five hits, three of which can only be described as cheap, and four runs, one that was unearned and two others that were tainted.

In the bottom of the fourth Martinez retired the Warhawks in order. For the third inning in a row he opened and closed the inning with a strike out.

Eli Facenda came on to pitch the fifth for Madison. After striking out the first batter and making a fine play on a bunt to throw out the second batter, he hit a batter but retired the side on another ball Ehrsam tracked down in center.

In the bottom of the fifth, Nate Favero drew a lead off walk. Martinez struck out the next batter and a well hit grounder went right to the shortstop who started an inning ending double play.

Jack Leech led off the Krop sixth with a soft liner to center for a hit. Kondla bunted to move the runner to second and was safe at first the bunt was mishandled. Germus bunted the runners to second and third and Bernier held the runners on a grounder to third and got the second out at first. After a hit batter loaded the bases, fate smiled on Krop again as Arteta fisted a weak pop up just far enough to right for another “hit” to drive in a pair of runs. A strike out ended the inning but Krop picked up vital insurance runs.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bernier led off by ripping a grounder down the third baseline for a single. With a four run deficit, he resisted the temptation to try for second. David Belt pinch ran and after a strike out went to third when Perez sliced a long double to right. Again, Madison ran the bases conservatively with less than two outs and trailing by four. Cassady hit a fly ball to shallow right for the second out and Belt sped for home. The catcher couldn’t handle the throw as Belt slid around him and Perez moved to third. Ryan McGuire walked on a 3-1 count and when the high pitch on ball four glanced off the catcher’s glove Perez scored.

Austin Chute pinch ran and Teddy Turner came to the plate. With the count full, Turner hit a one hop bullet that handcuffed the third baseman and went into shallow left. Chute, running on the pitch, sprinted for third. As the third baseman retreated to his base, the left fielder’s throw sailed over third toward the backstop. Chute started for home but held up when catcher Leech made a sliding scoop of the ball near the backstop. Unfortunately, Turner was well on his way to third assuming Chute would try to score. As he retreated toward second, Leech fired a 150 bullet to the shortstop to nail Turner diving back to second. It was a dazzling throw and a devastating end to the inning.

In the seventh, Krop got a final dink hit on a roller between first and second from Terrell Mitchell. After a pop to short, Mitchell broke for second as lefty Facenda fired to Perez who threw a strike to Cassady to nail Mitchell at second. Facenda retired the side on a fly to right.

After a shaky sixth, Martinez regained his composure in the Madison seventh and seemed to be throwing as hard or harder than at any time in the game. He retired the first batter on a check swing comebacker and finished with a flourish, striking out the next Warhawk looking and the final one swinging. Six of his ten K’s came with batters helplessly looking at unhittable pitches, usually on the outside corner, and most of the swinging third strikes were purely defensive swings. When Madison did hit the ball, Krop played errorless ball behind him. It was an awesome pitching performance coupled a defense that made all the routine plays and one spectacular one.

Coach Gjormand spoke for all Warhawk faithful who saw the game when he said, “It was a frustrating loss. I liked our effort but we made some mistakes that we will learn from.”

^

WARHAWKS RALLY TO TOP TENNESSEE

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	11	11	2
Unicoi	6	7	4

Madison began the Hanahan Invitational Tournament in Charleston, South Carolina in dramatic fashion rallying for eight runs in the third inning to overcome an early 6-0 deficit. In winning 11-6, the Warhawks beat the Unicoi Blue Devils from Erwin, Tennessee. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand noted that, “We beat a great team tonight, a tough draw for the first round. We gave them some runs early but the effort was there and nobody panicked."

Gavin Hilburn started on the mound for Madison which was the home team in a game played at West Ashley High School. With one out in the top of the first, Corey Headley doubled to left and moved to third on an infield error. Clean up hitter Steven Kiernan took the first pitch he saw over the fence in left for a three run homer to quickly put Unicoi on the scoreboard.

Logan Rice took the hill for the Blue Devils and retired Madison quietly in the bottom of the first. Scott Bernier ripped a two out single to left and moved to second on a balk but was stranded there.

In the top of the second, Holden Tolley was awarded first base with one out when a 3-2 pitch nicked him. With two outs, leadoff hitter Bobby Smith tried to bunt for a hit but Hilburn’s overthrew to first to put runners on second and third. Headley grounded a single up the middle to score two runs and took second on the throw home. Rice brought him home with a single to left and the inning ended on a strike out. Unicoi led 6-0 with two Madison errors leading to four unearned runs.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, Ryan McGuire laced a double into the left field corner. He moved to third on a wild pitch and Matt Moore took first when he was hit by a pitch. Both runners were left on base when the inning ended on a comebacker to Rice.

With one out in the Blue Devil third, shortstop Cam Cassady charged a slowly hit ball and made an off balance throw which Ricardo Perez superbly scooped out of the dirt. It was a big play by both Warhawks as John Hilliard followed by driving a two out double to right center. Matt Moore ended the inning by making a circus catch on a pop fly to right. Sprinting toward the foul line, he made a sprawling backhanded catch to save a run. The Warhawk leather had stemmed the advance of the tide for Tennessee; Madison metal was about to turn the tide.

T.J. Ehrsam led off the Warhawk third with a solid single to left. On a two strike pitch, Jonny Graham hit a grounder toward the hole that the first baseman failed to backhand cleanly. After a strike out, Alex Jacquez blasted a double to left center to bring home Ehrsam. Will Clarkson pinch ran for Jacquez. Perez hit a grounder to short to score Graham and when the shortstop booted the ball Clarkson raced home with Perez going to second. Cassady followed with an infield hit to put runners at the corners. That set up the pivotal play of the game.

With two outs, Moore struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt that got away from the catcher. Perez scored from third with Cassady taking second. With the first baseman holding Moore, Nate Favero singled through the gaping hole on the right side to drive in Cassady. Moore moved to third on the play and Favero took second on the throw home. Ehrsam walked to load the bases. Graham hit a harder grounder through the right side of the infield to score Moore and Favero and send Ehsram to third.

With runners at the corners, Graham stole second barely eluding the tag with a headfirst slide to the outfield side of the bag. When the second baseman turned his back to the plate to argue the call, Ehrsam alertly bolted home with the final run of the inning. The inning ended with eight runs in, seven of them unearned.

Hilburn struck out the first batter to start the Unicoi fourth. With two outs, the pesky Headley doubled to left, his third hit of the game. Hilburn retired the side on a grounder to third.

Jacquez led off the Warkhawk fourth by jacking a rocket well over the left field fence. Coach Gjormand would later comment, “Alex’s home run set them on their heels.” With one out, Cassady drove a ground ball to right for a single. McGuire followed with a towering double to right center field to score Cassady. Joe Corrigan pinch ran but was stranded at third as the inning ended on a grounder and a pop up.

Second baseman Favero flashed more Madison leather in the fifth. He charged a leadoff grounder, barehanded the ball and made an off balance throw to first for the out. After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Hilliard hit a looper to short right field. With his back to the plate, Favero made a leaping back handed catch to rob Hilliard of a sure hit.

In the bottom of the fifth, Ehrsam led off with a hard grounder that hit off the second baseman’s glove. Graham sacrificed him to second and Bernier drew a walk. After a double steal a couple of pop ups sandwiched around a walk to Perez left the bases loaded as the inning ended.

Once again Warhawk web gems frustrated the Blue Devils in the sixth. After a strike out to start the inning, Bernier, running with his back to the plate, made a fine catch of a pop up down the left field line. Smith doubled to left and Headley walked to put two men on with two outs and the heart of the order coming up. Smith tried to advance to third when a breaking ball in the dirt kicked away to catcher Jacquez’ right. He pounced on the ball and rifled a perfect throw with Bernier applying a pretty tag to end the inning.

The Blue Devils no doubt regret taking the risk of trying to advance a runner already in scoring position with two outs down by four runs. Most likely they haven’t seen the type of defensive prowess behind the plate Jacquez repeatedly displayed during the game. In addition to the stellar play to end the sixth, he had previously blocked a breaking ball in the dirt on a strike out and thrown the batter out at first. Also, on numerous occasions he hung on to foul tips to save strike outs.

Having thrown nearly 100 pitches, Unicoi pulled Rice after five innings and brought in submariner Cory Howell. McGuire jumped on the first pitch he saw slicing a liner to right for a single. He stole second and was balked to third. With one out, Favero executed a perfect bunt to bring home McGuire with the final run of the game.

Andrew Bayer came in to pitch the seventh for Madison. Hilburn threw nearly 80 pitches in six innings, giving up seven hits, walking a pair and hitting one while striking out three. Of his effort on a sunny afternoon with strong, gusty winds Coach Gjormand said, “Gavin pitched a great game on a very tough day.” Bayer closed the game striking out the first and last batters he faced sandwiched around a two out walk.

Errors played a key role in the game as 11 of the game’s 17 runs were unearned. The Warhawks were able to offset their errors with a bevy of stellar plays in the field. In addition, they mounted an 11 hit attack led by McGuire with three hits and Jacquez and Cassady with two apiece. Coach Gjormand summed up the victory by noting, “We are better equipped to come back like this than we were two weeks ago. We’re a young team…but we don’t play young.” ^

WARHAWKS SHUT OUT SAXONS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	6	5	0
Langley	0	4	2

The Madison Warhawks shocked the previously undefeated Langley Saxons by breaking open a close game with a five run sixth to win 6-0. The victory was led by brilliant shut out pitching from Andrew Bayer and Eli Facenda, a 3 for 3 night at the plate by Alex Jacquez, daring base running and stellar defense. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “Every district win means something. Andrew was tremendous for us. Alex made some nice adjustments in practice and came up big; that’s why he’s a Division 1 scholarship player.”

The game started ominously for the Warhawks in the first. Langely lead off hitter Jack McLindon drew a full count walk and Barrett Hunter followed with a solid single to center to put two men on with no outs. Joey Zarella hit a ball hard to right but the fleet Matt Moore made a running catch look easy for the first out. Bayer got the clean up hitter to hit a grounder to short that Cam Cassady, Nate Favero and Ricardo Perez turned into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

With the Saxons sending southpaw Zarella to the mound in the bottom of the first, it was particularly significant that the Warhawks prevented Langley from getting an early lead. This was evident when he retired the side in order in the first, ending the inning on a strike out.

Clay Rainie led off the second for Langley with a line drive single to center. This threat was quickly snuffed out when Favero backhanded a ball near second, stepped on the bag and relayed to Perez for the double play. It was the Warhawks sixth twin killing in the last two games. Bayer ended the inning by getting a grounder to short.

Jacquez led off the second for Madison by singling off the shortstop’s glove. Gavin Hilburn pinch ran and promptly stole second and third. With one out, Ryan MdGuire battled through a seven pitch at bat, fouling off a 2-2 pitch. On a full count, he scorched a sinking liner that left fielder Hunter made a tumbling catch on. The speedy Hilburn alertly tagged up to score the first run of the game. With Bayer and Zarella dueling on the mound, it looked like it might be the only run of the game.

Starting with the double play in the second, Bayer mowed down eleven hitters in a row from the second through the end of the fifth. In the second and fourth, he needed only six pitches in each inning to retire the side.

Meanwhile, Madison threatened in each inning from the third through the fifth but was unable to break through against Zarella. T.J. Ehrsam drew a two out walk in the third, stole second but was stranded on a strike out. Jacquez launched a one out double in the fourth, hitting the fence on one hop just to the left of the 415 foot sign in left center. Hilburn pinch ran and stole third. With the infield in, Hilburn had to hold at third when Abi Yi made a nifty diving stop of a grounder to second to hold the runner and get the out at first. The threat ended on another strike out. In the fifth Moore singled with one out and stole second on a pick off attempt. He was tagged out at third on a comebacker to Zarella and the inning ended with a fine diving catch in shallow right center by Rainie.

The decisive sixth inning began with Madison clinging to a slim 1-0 lead. A subtle factor in the Warhawks favor was that Bayer had only thrown 53 pitches in his five innings whereas Zarella’s pitch count tallied 77.

Will Lawrence led off the top of the sixth for the Saxons by drawing a walk on a full count. Artie McGonigal pinch ran and Ian Wood executed a perfect sacrifice to move the tying run to second. McLindon drew a four pitch walk to put two men on. Bayer bore down and got a pop up to short for the second out. Third baseman Scott Bernier turned in a web gem to end the inning, charging a slowly hit ball and rocketing the throw across the diamond for the third out.

The Warhawk sixth began meekly when Jonny Graham fouled off a 1-2 pitch and then topped a ball down the first base line. The first baseman charged the ball but was unable to make a play at first giving Graham a swinging bunt single. Will Clarkson pinch ran and held at first as an attempted sacrifice bunt was popped up to the pitcher.

In hindsight, the botched bunt attempt may have been a blessing in disguise for Madison. With one out and a runner at first, the dangerous Jacquez came to the plate. Had a bunt advanced Clarkson to second, Langley most likely would have walked Jacquez intentionally. Instead, with first base occupied, they pitched to him and he blistered the first pitch down the third base line and into the left field corner. Clarkson took third on the hit and Jacquez took second on the throw to third. Again Hilburn pinch ran for Jacquez.

With one out, the Saxons walked Perez intentionally to load the bases for McGuire. That decision backfired when the patient McGuire walked on a 3-1 pitch to force home Clarkson. Austin Chute pinch ran for McGuire. With the infield in, Cassady hit a hard grounder to short. After dropping the ball, the shortstop rushed his throw home and threw the ball away allowing both Hilburn and the hustling Perez to score.

With Chute on third and Cassady on second, Moore laid down a nice bunt. Third baseman Pete White’s only play was at home and he made a good attempt but Chute slid under the tag. Favero also laid down a nice bunt but Zarella made a fine play to nip Cassady at home. When the shortstop threw away Ehrsam’s two out grounder, Moore coasted home with the final run of the inning.

Having thrown almost a hundred pitches, Zarella was pulled and Robby Hart came in to finish the inning on a strike out. The damage had been done though and to paraphrase Winston Churchill, rarely has so much been done with so little. With only one ball hit out of the infield, Madison parlayed two hits, two walks, two bunts and two throwing errors into five runs. As Coach Gjormand observed, ”We manufactured some runs tonight to beat a real good pitcher who will pitch in Division 1 in college.”

The big inning completely changed the complexion of the top of the seventh. Geremy Mahn led off with a single to left. Cassady made a splendid play to backhand a grounder in the hole at short and get a force out at second. Chris Sievers got an infield single on a high chopper to third. When Bayer walked White to load the bases, he was finished for the night.

In 6-1/3 innings, Bayer gave up four hits, walked four and struck out three. He also gave up no runs thanks in large part to a superb effort by Facenda who came in with the bases loaded and only one out. The crafty southpaw struck out the first batter he faced by dropping a nasty curve ball on the outside corner. He then slammed the door shut by inducing a pop out to shortstop.

The veteran, talented Saxons may have taken the young Warhawks lightly. Including the designated hitter, Langley’s starting ten consisted of eight seniors and two juniors. By contrast, Madison started three seniors, four juniors, a sophomore and two freshman not to mention sophomore closer Facenda. In addition, earlier this week Langley pounded Woodson 11-1 a few days after Woodson had clobbered Madison 10-4. So much for the usefulness of comparative scores against common opponents. After tonight Madison won’t be able to sneak up on Liberty District teams but as Coach Gjormand noted, “We are getting better every game.”

^

MADISON STARTS FAST, TOPS TJ

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	8	10	3
Woodson	3	3	2

The Madison Warhawks put together a solid all around effort on a mildly chilly evening at Thomas Jefferson in defeating the Colonials 8-3. Danny Cate and Gavin Hilburn combined to limit Jefferson to just three hits while the Warhawks offense chipped away scoring runs in five different innings. The top three Madison hitters in the lineup, T.J. Ehrsam, Jonny Graham and Scott Bernier each had a pair of hits as the Warhawks garnered ten hits as a team. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand said, “We did a good job on the road tonight, very workmanlike. Lots of guys had a good approach at the plate.”

Madison quickly seized the lead in the top of the first. Ehrsam led off the game grounding a single up the middle. He moved to second on a ground ball and stole third. After fouling off a two strike pitch, Bernier took a 2-2 pitch well over the fence in left field for a two run homer to put Madison on top. It was his first varsity home run and Coach Gjormand noted, “Scotty gave us a big bang and got us off to a good start.” When Alex Jacquez followed with a line single to right, it looked like Madison had a big inning in the works but he was erased on a double play to end the inning.

With Cate on the mound for the Warhawks, Jonathan Wildes led off the bottom of the first by reaching base on an error. He moved to third when Mason Freedman rifled a grounder down the first base line for a single putting runners at first and third with no outs. Cate then got a grounder to shortstop for the first of two Cassady to Favero to Perez double plays. The run scored but the inning quickly ended on another grounder to short.

Trailing 2-1, Jefferson pitcher Ryan Stumvoll struck out the side in order in the top of the second. Cate responded by retiring the side in order in the bottom half of the inning.

Nate Favero led off the top of the third for the Warhawks and reached base on an error. Ehrsam followed with a line drive that the third baseman knocked down but couldn’t make a play on. Graham laced a single to center for his first varsity hit and Madison had the bases loaded with no outs. Stumvoll struck out the next two batters but Ricardo Perez came through in the clutch lining a single to right for two RBI’s. Graham was thrown out trying to go to third on Perez’ hit to end the inning but the Warhawks led 4-1.

In the bottom of the third, Travis Triggs drew a one out walk and when Wildes reached base on an error, the Colonials had a rally going with two men on and only one out. Cate quickly ended the threat by grabbing a grounder to his left, whirling and firing the ball to Cassady who relayed to Perez at first for an inning ending double play.

Ryan McGuire led off the fourth with a pop fly down the right field line which he hustled into a double. Cam Cassady was hit by a pitch, then Cate sacrificed to put runners on second and third. Favero brought the run home with a fly ball to center. A better throw might have nailed McGuire at the plate but the throw was up the first base line a few feet. Cassady was stranded at third when the inning ended on another fly ball to center.

Tom Woodruff started the fourth for Jefferson by drawing a walk. He was quickly erased when Favero fielded a ground ball up the middle, stepped on second for the force out and relayed to first for yet another double play. The inning ended on a strike out.

Madison continued to chip away in the top of the fifth. Graham led off the inning reaching base by turning into an 0-2 pitch. He moved to second when Bernier lined a hit to right. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Jacquez that was both surprising and well executed. Perez then plated Graham for his third RBI of the night on a fly out to right.

Jeff Siebach started the fifth for Jefferson with a solid single to center. Once again, the Warhawks produced a web gem with a 6-4-3 double play. The inning ended when Favero aggressively charged a slow grounder to second. Coach Gjormand praised the four twin killings saying, “We did a good job of finishing our double plays.” In five innings, Cate gave up an unearned run on only two hits, walking two and striking out three.

Cassady led off the sixth for Madison with a drive that hit the fence on one hop in left center for a double. He moved to third on a grounder and scored with two outs when the catcher fielded Ehrsam’s bunt but threw the ball away at first. Ehrsam’s speed forced the catcher to rush the throw and T.J. took second on the error. He raced home with the final Warhawk run of the night when Graham drove an 0-2 pitch to left for a single. When Stumvoll followed by hitting Bernier with a pitch, he was pulled in favor of lefty Kyle Applegate who retired the side on a force out.

On the night, Stumvoll threw nearly a hundred pitches. Although he hit three batters, he walked no one and struck out five. He surrendered ten hits but only half of the eight runs he gave up were earned. Coach Gjormand later said, “He’s a good pitcher, he beat us here in ’07 so it was good to turn the tables on him tonight.”

Gavin Hilburn came in to pitch the sixth for the Warhawks. With one out, he hit Wildes with a pitch. Wildes was called safe at second on a force play although it appeared he was out and the ball was dropped as the second baseman transferred the ball to his throwing hand. With two runners on, Hilburn responded with a strike out but with two outs, Alan Allworth chased home a pair of runs with a line shot into the left field corner. Hilburn ended the rally with another strike out.

The seventh inning went quickly as both pitchers retired the side in order. In two innings of work, Hilburn gave up two unearned runs on a single hit, hit a batter and struck out three.

Jefferson came into the game winless in four attempts. It would have been easy for the young Warhawks to look past the Colonials to undefeated Langley but it appears Madison learned not to do that after last week’s wake up call from Woodson. No doubt Coach Gjormand and his staff weren’t going to let that painful lesson be forgotten quickly.

^

WOODSON GIVES WARHAWKS WAKE UP CALL

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	4	5	1
Woodson	10	15	3

On a night marred by intermittent drizzle, Woodson rained on the promising start to the Madison 2009 season. The Cavaliers jumped to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back in mounting a 15 hit attack led by Kirk Lewis and Connor Reilly with three hits apiece. Matt Patrick, Brendan Breslin and John McGillicuddy each had two hits as every Woodson batter except one had at least one hit. Head Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “I tip my hat to Woodson. They are a young team like us and they swung the bat aggressively.”

Gavin Hilburn, who got the win a week earlier over Marshall and saved this week’s win against McLean, started on the mound for Madison. He retired the first two batters in the top of the first on just three pitches but with two outs, Connor Finnerty battled through an eight pitch at bat. After fouling off a pair of two strike offerings, he walked on a pitch that appeared to be a strike. The non-call became costly when Patrick homered down the left field line on 1-0 pitch. After an infield error, Hilburn got the third out but Woodson led 2-0.

Sophomore Bryson Hough started on the mound for the Cavaliers. T.J. Ehrsam led off the bottom of the first with an infield hit. On a hit and run play, Ehrsam was awarded third on an interference call on the shortstop as he attempted to advance to third on a ground ball. Ehrsam scored as Alex Jacquez grounded out to second. Behind for the first time this season, the Warhawks had cut the deficit in half.

The top of the second started bizarrely for Woodson. McGillicudy led off with a single. On a missed bunt attempt, Jacquez rifled a throw to Ricardo Perez to pick McGillicudy off first. Lewis followed with an infield hit and Hillburn promptly picked him off first as well. With two outs and no one on, Colin Dempsey lined a single to center. Lead off hitter Dylan Robeson followed with an identical hit and Max Waizenegger drew a walk to load the bases. Finnerty brought home three runs with a double to left center to put the Cavaliers up 5-1. The inning ended on a routine fly to right field.

Ryan McGuire led off the bottom of the second with a hustle double when his pop fly hit off the glove of Waizenegger diving in center field. Cam Cassady singled solidly to left with McGuire holding at third. It appeared the Warhawks caught a break when Cassady stole second. The throw to second beat him to the bag but the shortstop, wary of McGuire at third, failed to apply the tag. The rally fizzled though with two strike outs and a pop up. The drizzle first began to fall at this point, perhaps a sign that this would not be Madison’s night.

The first four batters in the top of the third got hits for Woodson. Reilly led off with a double to center and Breslin singled him to third. McGuillicudy and Lewis each singled home a run and Dempsey brought home the third Cavalier run of the inning with a fly ball to center. Two more fly balls ended the inning.

Ehrsam led off the third for Madison and reached base on an error by the first baseman. Bernier followed with a grounder that the third baseman threw away. When Jacquez was hit by a pitch, the Warhawks had the bases loaded and no one out. Ricardo Perez hit a pop fly to right that Dempsey made a sliding catch on to score a run. After McGuire was hit by a pitch to reload the bases, Cassady hit a pop fly to center that Waizenegger made a sliding catch on. Again, a run scored but had the outfielders not made two tough plays it could have been a very different inning. The inning ended with two Madison runners in, two left on base and an 8-3 lead for Woodson.

Eli Facenda came in to pitch the fourth for Madison making his varsity debut. He struck out the first batter he faced but then surrendered a single to Patrick and back to back RBI doubles to Reilly and Breslin. Facenda settled down and sandwiched a pair of strike outs around a walk. He again struck out the side in the top of the fifth, this time mowing down the top of the Cavalier line up in order.

Meanwhile, the Warhawks wasted a one out single by Nate Favero in the bottom of the fourth. When Jacquez drew a walk leading off the bottom of the fifth, Woodson pulled Hough and brought in designated hitter McGillicudy to pitch. He got a double play on a dubious call at first and then retired the side in order in the fifth.

Facenda faced four batters in both the sixth and seventh, yielding a hit and getting a strike out in each inning. In four innings, he gave up a pair of runs on five hits and struck out eight. Coach Gjormand later commented, “Eli did a nice job. After the first four batters, he really pounded the strike zone.”

Madison sent a parade of pinch hitters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth in an effort to get a rally going. With one out, Chris Powers reached base on an error. Jonny Graham and Austin Mellor drew consecutive walks to load the bases. After a strike out, Bernier brought home the final Warhawk run with a solid single to left. The inning ended on a fly out to left. Madison went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, the last two outs on strike outs.

Combined, Hough and McGillicudy, both sophomores, limited Madison to just five hits, only two of which were reasonably well hit balls to the outfield. Only one of the four runs they gave up was earned. The Warhawks picked up a pair of walks and a pair of hit batsmen on the night, leaving a total of eight runners on base. As Coach Gjormand noted, “They got us on our heels early. We had some opportunities but we didn’t cash them in.”

Having defeated a tough McLean squad on Tuesday, the Warhawks came into tonight’s game with the Cavaliers confident---perhaps too confident. A week earlier Madison began its season beating Marshall 7-0. Marshall, in turn, pounded Woodson 14-3 Tuesday night after the Cavaliers won their opener against South Lakes. Hopefully tonight’s game, which was not as close as the score indicated, served as a wake up call for the Warhawks not to take a team lightly. Comparing scores of games against common opponents may be interesting but it is irrelevant.

^

WARHAWKS HOLD OFF HIGHLANDERS

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	9	8	1
McLean	7	8	3

In a game marked by stunning momentum swings, the Madison Warhawks essentially took two of three “games within the game” from the McLean Highlanders by a combined score of 9-7. The Warhawks won the first three innings 8-0, the Highlanders surged back to win the next three innings 7-0 and then Madison rebounded to win the thrilling final inning 1-0. Coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand summed it up by saying, “Any win is a good win in March against a District opponent. We beat a really good team tonight.”

The Warhawks grabbed a lead they would never relinquish in the top of the first. With one out, Scott Bernier worked the first of four walks he would draw on the night. After a strike out, Ricardo Perez was hit by a 1-2 pitch. Both runners moved up on a passed ball, then Ryan McGuire plated Bernier with a laser shot single to center with Perez having to hold at third. The inning ended on a botched double steal attempt with McGuire being tagged out at second before Perez could score.

Cam Cassady drew a walk leading off the second but was gunned down trying to steal second by McLean catcher Erik Payne. Highlander starting pitcher Denis Buckley struck out a pair of batters in each of the first two innings and it appeared a tight game was in the offing.

In the top of the third, the Warhawks exploded for seven runs. Nate Favero led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball. With one out, Bernier drew a walk to put runners at the corners. With Bernier on the move, Alex Jacquez perfectly executed a hit and run single through the hole at second base to score Favero and move Bernier to third. Perez hit a slow chopper to the left of the mound for a single to score Bernier. A throwing error on McGuire’s grounder to third scored Gavin Hilburn (pinch running for Jacquez) and Perez. When Cassady beat out a perfect bunt to put runners at the corners, the Highlanders pulled Buckley off the mound and brought in Jordan Ghanam. Buckley left trailing 5-0.

Cassady promptly stole second unchallenged. After a strike out, Matt Moore laced a two run single to left scoring McGuire and Cassady. After Moore stole second, Favero drove him in with a line double to right center. He was stranded at second when the top of the third ended.

Meanwhile, Warhawk hurler Danny Cate retired the first nine batters throwing only 31 pitches in the first three innings. He was the beneficiary of a couple of stellar plays at third by Bernier who twice dove to his left to smother grounders and scramble to his feet to throw the batter out at first a la Brooks Robinson. At the end of three innings, the Warhawks led 8-0 and seemed to have the game well in hand. As Coach Gjormand later commented, “Even when we were up 8-0 I knew it wasn’t over. There is no quit in McLean.”

In the top of the fourth, Jacquez hit a towering one out double to right center. With two outs, McGuire walked but the Warhawks left both men on base at the end of the inning. Reliever Ghanam was settling into a rhythm and subtly, the momentum had swung to McLean. In the bottom of the fourth, Riley Beiro became the first Highlander baserunner hitting a hard grounder just inside third and into the left field corner for a lead off double. Chris Russo beat out a slow grounder to third for a pseudo hit; the ball hit off his foot and should have been called a foul ball but both umpires missed the call. Sean Fitzgerald followed with an RBI single to left and Buckley was safe on an infield hit to load the bases. Payne stroked an RBI single to right with Moore charging the ball hard and making an excellent throw to hold the runner at third. Brett Bleiweiss hit into a fielder’s choice to score the third run of the inning and put runners at the corners. After Cate’s fourth strike out of the night, he tried to pick Bleiweiss off first and threw the ball away allowing McLean to score its fourth run of the inning.

Having thrown almost as many pitches in the fourth inning alone as in the first three combined, Cate was done for the night. Coach Gjormand would later observe that, “Danny made a great varsity debut.” He gave up five hits, two of them dribblers on the infield, and a lone walk. He left the game with the Warhawks leading 8-4.

In the top of the fifth, the Warhawks had a runner at second with only one out after Moore singled and once again stole second. However, the Warhawks failed to capitalize. It would prove to be the final Warhawk hit of the night.

Andrew Bayer came in to pitch for Madison in the bottom of the fifth. After retiring the first batter he faced, he ran the count full on both Russo and Fitzgerald before issuing walks. With two outs, Payne singled to left to bring in the fifth McLean run. Bernier made a good pick up on a grounder and stepped on third to end the threat.

In the top of the sixth, Bernier led off with a walk and with two outs, McGuire was walked intentionally. Next Cassady fouled off a two strike pitch before coaxing a walk to load the bases. Once again, the Warhawks failed to capitalize. In the 3-2/3 innings Ghanam pitched, Madison stranded at least one runner in every inning, seven in total. After escaping yet another jam in the sixth, he was done for the night.

The bottom of the sixth began quietly as Bayer struck out the lead off batter and shortstop Cassady made a nice play charging a grounder and gunning the runner at first. Then disaster struck. Colin Cannon battled through a marathon nine pitch at bat to draw a walk then Beiro fought to gain a seven pitch walk. Both batters benefitted when the umpire failed to give Bayer a call on a nasty 2-2 breaking pitch. Russo then lined a single to right. Moore again made a fine play to hold the runner at third and set up the at bat of the game.

With two outs, the bases loaded and trailing 8-5, Fitzgerald came to the plate for an epic eight pitch at bat. After fouling off a pair of two strike pitches, he worked the count full. With Bayer working from a wind up, the runners were off and running with the payoff pitch. Fitzgerald hit a sinking liner to center that T.J. Ehrsam chose to play on a hop rather than risk attempting a shoestring catch. He hit his cutoff with a strong throw and Cassady whirled and fired a perfect strike to Jacquez to nail the lumbering Russo trying to score the tying run from first. Sending Russo home was a gamble McLean probably wishes they could hit the undo button on as the play ended the inning.

With Madison clinging to an 8-7 lead, McLean brought in Tim Ferry to pitch the seventh. Moore reached on an error leading off. Favero executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move him to second. With two outs, Bernier once again walked and even though first base was occupied, the Highlanders gave Jacquez an intentional pass to bring up Perez with the bases loaded. Again, it was a gamble McLean probably wishes they could hit the undo button on. The stage was set for a play reminiscent of another great Robinson: the incomparable Jackie.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Ferry chose to work from the wind up. Moore took a walking lead from third and took off for home as Ferry rocked to the wind up. With Perez hanging in the batter’s box screening the catcher’s view, Moore slid home with a vital insurance run. One pitch later Perez was plunked with a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases but the rally ended on a strike out. On the night, Madison left 11 base runners aboard. In addition to collecting eight hits, the Warhawks drew eight walks plus two intentional passes and two hit batsmen.

The Warhawks brought in Hilburn to close out the game. He began by getting a routine fly out to center but then sandwiched a couple of walks around another web gem by Cassady charging a grounder to short. With two outs and the tying runs aboard, Hilburn slammed the door with a strike out.

Coach Gjormand noted that, “We missed some opportunities and ran into some outs. The steal of home by Matt was a great read on his part though, a real back breaker.” The tension of last night’s game was frequently broken by the McLean PA announcer who creatively mispronounced the names of several Madison players and coaches. We can’t count on such comic relief every night though. If tonight’s game was any indication, Warhawk fans had better brush up on their CPR skills because this is going to be a nerve racking season.

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MADISON ICES MARSHALL

	Runs	Hits	Errors
Madison	7	10	0
Marshall	0	3	2

On a calm but frigid night, the young Madison Warhawks defeated the senior laden Marshall Statesmen by a 7-0 score. Madison played errorless ball behind the three hit pitching of Gavin Hilburn and Andrew Bayer. The Warhawks broke open a 2-0 game by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the victory on ice. Scott Bernier and Ryan McGuire had two hits apiece to lead a ten hit Warhawk attack. Seven of those hits came in 4-1/3 innings against Greg Goldsmith who shut down Madison in an 11-1 defeat last year.

With one out in the top of the first, Kevin Nutter hit a hard grounder down the third base line for the first Marshall hit of the game. Left fielder Will Clarkson made a fine play to hold Nutter to a single. This proved important when catcher Alex Jacquez gunned down the speedy Nutter trying to steal second.

Starting pitcher Hilburn proceeded to retire eight straight hitters until Nutter hit a fly ball to right in the fourth that got lost in the lights and fell for a double. With the tying run on second, Hilburn rose to the occasion to record his only two strike outs to end the threat.

Madison had at least one runner in each of the first four innings against Goldsmith but only managed to push across a pair of runs. In the bottom of the first, Bernier made his first varsity at bat a memorable one by crushing a double over the right fielder’s head but he was stranded at second.

McGuire led off the second by singling in his first varsity at bat on a pop fly that the right fielder misplayed. Cam Cassady coaxed a walk and McGuire scored the first run of the season on a throwing error by the shortstop. The Warhawks threatened to extend the lead but left a pair of runners on base. McGuire blasted a two out double off the base of the center field fence in the third but was stranded at second.

Clarkson started the Madison fourth by walking. He advanced to second on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Matt Moore. Nate Favero, who earlier had been hit by a pitch in his first varsity plate appearance, drove home Clarkson with a rope over the second baseman’s head. The rally died on a pick off at first and a ground out. That set up the pivotal fifth inning.

Tom Pacheco led off the fifth for Marshall with a single and when Hilburn issued his only walk of the night, the Statesmen had two runners on and no outs. Favero made a nifty play to force a runner at second. With runners at the corners, Bernier made a fine play on a slow grounder to hold the runner at third and get the out at first. The inning ended when the fleet T.J. Ehrsam ran down a fly ball in left center.

In the bottom of the fifth Bernier led off with a solid single to right. Austin Mellor pinch ran and with Mellor on the move, Jacquez executed a perfect hit and run single through the hole at second. Ricardo Perez followed with an RBI single to right center. With two men on, McGuire came to the plate and struck out after an epic nine pitch at bat. That finished the night for Marshall hurler Goldsmith who threw 91 pitches in the game. He left trailing 3-0.

With one out the Statesmen brought in lefty freshman Mitch MacKeith. After fouling off a two strike pitch and taking a couple of pitches that barely missed, Cassady slapped a single up the middle to bring home Joe Corrigan who pinch ran for Jacquez. Clarkson then beat out a beautiful bunt to load the bases. Chris Powers then pinch hit and after fighting off a pair of two strike pitches singled up the middle to collect two RBI’s. Clarkson scored the fifth run of the inning on an error by the third baseman.

Hilburn threw only 53 pitches in five innings. Bayer made his varsity debut coming in to pitch for Madison in the sixth. He only needed 18 pitches to retire all six batters he faced while striking out two.

Madison “web gems” were on display all night. Shortstop Cassady, second baseman Favero and center fielder Ehrsam made all the plays up the middle. Left fielder Clarkson made a diving catch and right fielder Moore made a fine running catch of a line drive.

Mark “Pudge” Gjormand said, “I’m proud of our guys, they showed great energy in a rivalry game, it was a real team win.” In avenging last year’s defeat at the hands of Goldsmith, Warhawk batters consistently worked deep into counts and on 15 occasions fouled off two strike pitches. Gjormand commented that, “We had a good two strike approach against a very good pitcher.”

The temperature was in the low 40’s at game time and plunged to the upper 30’s by the time the game ended. It is only one game, but it was a great way to start the season. The way Madison played, the smile was probably still on Coach Gjormand’s face even after he got a chance to thaw out.

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