WINCHESTER — Strong pitching and defense have been the foundation for the James Wood High School baseball program’s postseason success over the previous four seasons.
In their Region 4D quarterfinal opener on Monday at R. Charles Hott Field, the Colonels failed in one of those areas and saw an impressive playoff streak end.
Orange County took advantage of two errors and another fielding miscue to score a pair of unearned runs in the first inning and used its own stellar pitching and defense to eliminate North No. 1 seed James Wood with a 2-1 triumph.
The North’s fourth seed (11-11) next will travel to second-seeded Sherando (14-7) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. That semifinal winner will clinch a spot in the Region 4D title game and a berth in the state tournament. The loss ended James Wood’s streak of three consecutive Class 4 state tournament berths and four straight appearances in the regional final.
Hornets starter Isaac Jackson held the Colonels (17-5) to just a run on four hits through five innings and Connor Courtney tossed two hitless innings of relief, stranding the tying run at second in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
James Wood ace Logan Bower blanked Orange over the final six innings, but Colonels never recovered from the first-inning collapse.
“We just didn’t play well defensively,” said James Wood coach Adrian Pullen, who team committed five errors in the contest. “Offensively, we struggled. It comes down to me not having my guys ready to play at a high enough level at this time of year. Everybody is coming to get you. It’s do-or-die and you have to win. We just weren’t ready to do that tonight. We just didn’t execute in all phases of the game.”
Orange County, which lost 3-2 in eight innings against the Colonels in last year’s quarterfinals, took advantage from the start. Leadoff hitter Trenton Spears reached on an error and moved to second on a one-out walk to Tyler Atkins. Cleanup hitter Cale Jarrell then bunted the ball straight back to Bower, who initially looked at third for a force, but then turned to throw first, but ended up holding the ball as the Colonels were late getting to the bag.
With the bases now loaded, Spears scored on a wild pitch. Courtney then hit a one-hopper back to Bower, who looked Atkins back to third, but threw wild to first allowing the Orange baserunner to score to make it 2-0. Bower was able to get out of the jam with two grounders to third baseman Brady Smith.
“He had a little bit of a hard time getting his breaking ball over in the first inning and we took advantage,” Hornets coach Dave Rabe said of Bower. “We wanted to look fastball from the start and we knew he was going to bring it. He’s a great pitcher. You have to jump on him when you can. Luckily, we were able to jump out front.”
Jackson, a right-hander, had the Colonels off-balance at the plate. The Hornets’ No. 2 starter changed speeds often, especially on his breaking ball.
Of James Wood’s four hits, three came in the third inning. Cade Cornwell led off the frame with a towering double to left. After an out, Cornwell swiped third and came home when No. 9 hitter Kaden McCullough lined a 3-2 offering to left for an RBI single. McCullough then was cut down trying to steal second. After Zach Woskobunik reached on an infield hit, Jackson got Owen Neal on a comebacker to end the inning.
Jackson was aided by outstanding defense over the rest of his stint, especially from speedy center fielder Joey Colangelo who tracked down a couple shots in the alley with ease. Jackson finished with seven strikeouts and did not walk a batter.
“He really kept us off-balance,” Pullen said. “He had three different speeds. … When you get out on the front foot and don’t stay mechanically sound, that’s what happens. … The name of the game is keeping you off-balance and not letting you get into your groove. That’s what they did tonight.”
Even though Jackson had thrown just 79 pitches, Rabe opted to bring on the hard-throwing Courtney in the top of the sixth.
“Instead of waiting for [Jackson] to get tired and the top of the lineup was coming, you make a change now,” Rabe explained about the change. “That’s team baseball. You can take one guy out and the next guy comes in and flows right into it. Everybody is pulling for him and it’s a beautiful thing.”
James Wood did have a shot to get even in the seventh. Tyler Prusik led off with a walk and moved to second with one out on a pitch in the dirt. Courtney responded by getting a groundout and a called third strike on a 3-2 pitch, ending the game with his fourth strikeout.
McCullough had two of the Colonels four hits. Smith made an outstanding diving snag and throw to rob a Hornet of a hit in the fourth inning.
Bower struck out eight and walked one in a two-hitter. Orange County only hit two balls out of the infield.
“He kept us in it,” Pullen said of the senior right-hander. “… He was doing his job. We didn’t do our job defensively when it came to that part.”
Despite the loss, Pullen said he was pleased with the Colonels’ season. He started five of the team’s seven seniors in Monday’s contest, but got strong play throughout the campaign from underclassmen.
“It was a great season for us,” he said. “We were really young. Yes, we had some good senior talent, but we have some good young talent, too. We knew we were going to have some bumps along the way. It’s unfortunate to take a bump at this time of year. … We’ll fight back. Our kids will keep their heads high and continue toward the process. We’ll be ready to go when the next time comes.”
Orange County’s next time will be against the Warriors, who knocked off Charlottesville 4-3 on Monday. Rabe got to see Sherando in person last season as an assistant coach when the Black Knights topped the Warriors 2-1 in eight innings in the Region 4D quarterfinals.
He hopes the Hornets, who edged Millbrook 7-6 on Saturday, can keep up a late-season surge. “We’re only a .500 team, but we’re hot here at the end when we need to be,” he said. “We’ve battled through the downs and now we’re kind of riding the tide on top and we’ll see how far we can take it.”