Wood Baseball Silences Sherando Bats, 3-0

Posted: April 17, 2015
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — James Wood senior Bryan Whitacre made an impact in just about every phase of the game in Thursday night’s Northwestern District baseball game against rival Sherando.

The Colonels senior right hander limited Sherando to just one hit through five innings and he drove in two runs with a bloop single in the bottom of the fifth inning in a 3-0 victory over the Warriors at R. Charles Hott Field.

“Bryan did a nice job, getting ahead early in the count as well as keeping them off balance,” said James Wood coach Brent Lockhart, whose team has won three in a row to improve to 5-3, 2-2 district. “He made a great play out in center field and he made the hit that scored the two RBIs, so he just had a great game all-around — at the plate, on the mound and in the field.”

Sherando starting pitcher Adam Whitacre held James Wood hitless through four innings before the Colonels erupted in the bottom of the fifth.

Colonels No. 6 hitter Cohen Kerns walked on four pitches to start the inning and Reid Barber reached on a throwing error by Adam Whitacre after Barber dropped a bunt down in front of the mound.

Adam Whitacre then walked Hunter Hall to bring Bryan Whitacre to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs.

Whitacre’s at bat almost ended on a foul pop-up behind home plate but Sherando catcher Tyler Tinsman couldn’t track it down near the backstop. With a 1-2 count, Whitacre lifted a bloop single into right field off Sherando starting pitcher Adam Whitacre to score both Cohen Kerns and Reid Barber.

“It was just luck on my part,” said Bryan Whitacre of his bloop single into shallow right field. “He pitched great to me and I just got lucky and got a hold of one and it was just enough to get it up and over the infielder’s head.”

The Colonels tacked on another run in the sixth after three straight singles by Zach Thompson, Kris Malsch and Eli Warren loaded the bases with no outs. An out later, Malsch scored after Adam Whitacre walked Reid Barber to put the Colonels ahead 3-0.

Sherando (2-5, 1-1) threatened in the top of the seventh against Colonel senior reliever KaCee Duggan after Quentin Rohrbaugh’s one-out single and then Pearce Bucher reached on an error. With runners on first and second, Duggan got Ty Michaud to pop out to third base and then recorded the final out when Michael White hit a routine fly ball to left.

While Duggan got out of a jam in the seventh, Bryan Whitacre’s glove prevented Sherando from a potential rally in the sixth.

Myles McPartland singled to left to start the inning and advanced to second on sac bunt by Austin Simmons. With one out and McPartland on second, Adam Whitacre connected on a sharply hit line drive to left center but Bryan Whitacre came running in to make the grab before sliding onto his knees. Duggan ended the inning by getting Warriors clean-up hitter Connor Stevenson to fly out to left.

“Collectively, we pitched really well,” said Duggan, who earned his first save of the season. “Bryan got a few strikeouts but overall they put the ball in play. Our defense was definitely the reason we were able to pull out the win.”

Bryan Whitacre and Duggan combined to limit Sherando to just three hits and the Warriors stranded five runners on base, including four in scoring position.

Bryan Whitacre (2-2) retired 13 Sherando hitters in a row and held the Warriors hitless until Rohrbaugh’s one-out single in the fifth. Whitacre allowed just one hit, two walks and struck out seven.

“On the mound all I did was trust my defense,” Bryan Whitacre said. “Catcher Cohen Kerns did an amazing job behind the plate and I knew if they hit the ball my defense was going to take it.”

Sherando coach Pepper Martin said his team just didn’t get it done offensively and gave the Colonels a few extra outs that proved costly.

“We didn’t hit well enough to win — that’s for sure,” Martin said. “What really hurt us was not making the play on [Whitacre’s] foul pop-up. If we make that play then they don’t get that bloop hit.

“The bottom line was we had a good pitching performance and they had a little bit better pitching performance.”

Sherando starting left hander Adam Whitacre (1-1) allowed just four hits (none through the first four innings) and struck out five through 51/3 innings.

Thursday night’s game between the two Frederick County rivals did not count in the Conference 21 standings. The conference matchup between the Colonels and Warriors comes on May 5 in Stephens City.

“It’s a great win and anytime you get a win [against Sherando] it’s huge,” said Lockhart, whose team held a “Veterans Appreciation Day” to honor about 20 local veterans during a pre-game ceremony. “I wish it was the conference game, but we’ll just have to go to their place and play real hard and try to get a win.”

— Contact Robert Stocks at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1