Baseball

May 4, 2011

By Greg Brill

Special to The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY- An infield hit by senior Dominique Porter drove home the winning run in Sherando's 4-3 baseball victory over James Wood on Tuesday night.

But it was what a couple of freshmen did at the plate before Porter's at-bat that Warriors coach Pepper Martin felt was just as important.

With the score tied at 3 and one out in the bottom of the sixth, freshman catcher Chase Smallwood, hitting eighth in the lineup, looped a double to right-center to begin a rally.

That brought up fellow freshman Logan Bucher, who had struck out in his two previous plate appearances. Bucher bounced a first-pitch grounder to the right side to move courtesy runner Brady Cook to third.

The Warriors (7-6, 3-1 Northwestern District) got the go-ahead run when Porter hit a two-strike pitch from Matt Copley to the left side that James Wood shortstop Jordan Iden had to scramble to. Porter (2 for 4) crossed first with a hit and Cook crossed the plate with the eventual winning run.

"We manufactured that run, and for a freshman [Bucher] to do that - it was huge," Martin said. "The double got it started, but that grounder to the right side was important, because you can score many more ways from third than you can from second."

Tre Porter needed just six pitches in the seventh to lock up a complete game victory on the mound.

Porter - who went the distance for the first time this season - hit Russell Repasky with the first pitch of the seventh. A.J. Eubank moved pinch-runner Brad Skillman to second with a sacrifice, but that's where he stayed.

Dominique Porter tracked down a difficult fly ball in left-center hit by Copley for the second out, just before Garret Cunningham grounded out to second to end the game.

Though he praised the hustle his team had on the bunt, Martin liked how Dominique Porter suggested a shift in the outfield before Copley came to bat.

"Dominique hollered in and gave me a signal to play shallow," Martin said. "He plays in [closer] and makes a running catch. If we stay back, he doesn't catch it."

Tre Porter bounced back well after the Colonels (4-10, 2-3) had five straight baserunners reach in the fourth and tied the game at 3.

"A couple of things did not go our way, and we got down a little bit, but you've got to be mentally tough to play this game," Martin said. "In the seventh, we showed a total different mentality. We had a lot better mental toughness tonight that has been lacking some this season."

James Wood didn't get a hit over the final three innings and had just one runner reach scoring position.

Though he was scored upon in just one inning, Tre Porter (five hits allowed, two earned runs, no walks, five strikeouts) was at 88 pitches after six innings. Martin sent Porter (2-0) back out for the seventh and had confidence his most experienced pitcher could continue to compete for a win.

"It was [Porter's] to finish," Martin said. "He made some adjustments on the mound, with a little bit of slickness [rain started to fall in the sixth] around.

"That was big. We have three [district] games in a row [to play this week,] and that saved our arms for him to get a complete game."

Sherando took the lead with a three-run third inning off James Wood starter Addison Barber.

Barber had courtesy runner Tyler Simmers picked off at first, but a high throw to the bag at second allowed Simmers to just beat the tag of a covering Copley.

With two outs, Jacob Carney (2 for 3) beat out his grounder to the left side by a step at first for an infield hit, with Simmers moving to third.

Tre Porter then had an RBI double into the left-field corner before Chris Gray drew an intentional walk to load the bases.

Tyler Quinn followed by looping a single into shallow right field to drive in both Carney and Cook for a 3-0 lead.

Copley came in for Barber and got out of the inning quickly by picking Gray off third.

An inning later, James Wood tied it.

Tre Porter had faced one batter over the minimum heading to the fourth, but he got in trouble right away. Cunningham had an infield hit behind the second-base bag, Frank Minor pushed a hit the opposite way through the left side, and Daniel Garber got a hit to shallow right to load the bases.

Scott Johnson then grounded to first, but Quinn's throw home drew Smallwood off the plate. Though it looked like Smallwood recovered in time to get the force, the plate umpire ruled the catcher did not have control of the ball.

Tyler Dick's single to left drove in two to tie the game.

"I was proud of the way our guys battled back," James Wood coach Jared Mounts said. "Our guys rose to the occasion, battled back, and competed tonight. They gave themselves an opportunity. We've just got to work hard in practice to overcome these close losses."

Porter did not allow any more runs in the fourth, getting Tyler Murphy to pop up his bunt for the first out, getting a force for the second out, then fanning Eubank to strand two runners.

Copley (3-3) took another tough-luck loss. The senior got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth without allowing a run and gave up just one earned run in 3 innings of relief. He struck out three and allowed just three hits.