James Wood Baseball Rolls Over Pioneers 11-3

Posted: April 6, 2013
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — The James Wood baseball team doesn’t need senior pitcher Addison Barber to be perfect — they just need him around.

In his first extended game work since leaving his start against Musselman (W.Va.) on March 15 after a partially deflected line drive hit his forehead, Barber pitched a strong 51/3 innings to lead James Wood to an 11-3 Northwestern District baseball victory at R. Charles Hott Field.

Barber — who allowed three runs (two earned), four hits and one walk while striking out four in improving to 2-0 — said he wasn’t at his best.

But with Barber on the mound, the Colonels (3-5, 1-2 Northwestern) — who snapped a three-game losing streak — feel like they can play at their best.

James Wood did benefit from eight Millbrook (2-6, 1-2) errors Friday, but the Colonels also smacked nine hits — including five hard-hit doubles — and stole five bases in a consistent effort. The Colonels led 2-0 after one inning, 4-0 after two, 8-1 after four and 10-1 after five.

“Whenever [Barber’s] on the mound, he gives us confidence, because we know he’s going to shut ’em down,” said sophomore outfielder KaCee Duggan, who went 3 for 5 with three runs, two RBIs, a stolen base and a double. “He’s been good for us so far.

“I was disappointed when he got injured, because I knew we’d be missing that element. So for him to come back and pitch, that definitely helps.”

Barber — who will be a preferred walk-on for Old Dominion University next year — said it was hard to think about anything else other than that line drive when he returned to practice March 28. But Barber — who pitched the seventh inning in a loss to Loudoun County Tuesday, the equivalent to bullpen work — said he wasn’t thinking about it Friday.

Still, there’s bound to be a little rust when you pitch one inning in three weeks.

“I was just focusing on trying to hit my spots, and letting my defense play behind me,” said Barber, who only saw his defense commit one error. “This wasn’t my best outing, because I’m not in the best shape because of that injury. I need to get some running in and work out a little more so I can get those complete games and help the team out a little bit more.”

James Wood assistant coach Zach Stiles — who spoke to the media after Tuesday’s defeat — once again handled media duties Friday night because James Wood head coach Jared Mounts figured Stiles should get to speak after a win, too.

Much like Duggan, he too thought Barber’s mere presence makes an impact. He noted that Barber was flying open on his front side and leaving a few pitches up, but that wasn’t a surprise given his minimal workload.

“He threw great tonight,” Stiles said. “He really probably wasn’t as sharp as he’s been in the past, but he came out, threw strikes, pounded the zone and used his defense. I was proud of him.”

Stiles was proud of the offense too, and with good reason.

The first inning set the tone. Duggan led off with a line-drive single to left field. Dakota Orndorff (2 for 5 with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base) then grounded to third, but it was a hit-and-run, which might have made the third baseman overthink as he made a wild throw for an error that allowed Duggan to get to third and Orndorff to second.

A sacrifice fly by Nick Goode (double and two RBIs) brought in the first run, and after being moved to third on a double to left-center field by Russell Repasky (2 for 2 with two doubles), Orndorff later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

“We’ve been preaching aggressive all year,” Stiles said. “The guys came out and did that tonight. [Thursday night in a 4-2 loss to Skyline], we started hitting the ball a little bit better, but they were ready to hit tonight. One through nine, we hit the ball hard. We left eight in scoring position last night, but we did a better job tonight.”

That’s because James Wood — which only stranded five runners — refused to let the Pioneers off the hook for their mistakes. Of Millbrook’s eight errors, four came in a four-run fourth for James Wood that put the Colonels up 8-1.

“Defense was horrendous, and that’s probably an understatement,” Millbrook coach Brian Burke said. “You make one and it seems to snowball a little bit.

“We took hundreds of ground balls [Thursday] in preparation to try and firm up our defense, and we came out and kicked the ball around again tonight. We’re baffled and we’re embarrassed by this performance tonight, because we know we’re a better club than what we showed here.”

Pioneers starting pitcher Daniel Nawrocki (2-1) surrendered eight runs, but just three of them were earned. He allowed seven hits, hit a batter and had no walks and strikeouts.

The Pioneers were led offensively by Nawrocki (RBI triple and a run), Bruce Keenan (1 for 3 with two runs) and Ryan Hartigan (2 for 3).

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