STEPHENS CITY — Timely hits and clutch pitching. That was the difference between the Sherando and James Wood High School baseball teams on Tuesday.
And with the arms and bats on the Warriors’ side, Sherando defeated the Colonels 13-3 for a run-rule victory at Pepper Martin Field.
The Warriors finished the game with 11 hits and received a stout performance from junior right-handed pitcher Dean Lamb in the game that was shortened to six innings.
Although the Colonels were within five runs in the sixth, ultimately, an Aaron DeHaven walk-off, two-RBI single to right field sealed the victory for the Warriors (2-1, 1-0 Class 4 Northwestern District).
After two scoreless innings, Sherando scored three runs in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Wood (2-1, 0-1) tacked on a run in the top of the fourth on a Logan Bower RBI triple, but the Warriors’ lead only extended in the next frame.
Sherando drove home five runs in the fourth to take a commanding 8-1 lead. The last four of those five runs came with two outs on the board.
The first run came off Asher Morrow’s RBI double to center field, which brought home Tucker LaFever. Morrow then reached home on a Nick Usa grounder to give the Warriors a 5-1 lead. A two-RBI single to left field by Frazier added two more for the Hornets. After Wood made a pitching change, a Judson Dean walk with the bases loaded brought home the fifth run of the inning for the Warriors.
And what could’ve been the beginning of a James Wood comeback ended up being the nail in the coffin in the sixth inning.
With Sherando leading 8-3, Lamb got the Warriors out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth. In danger of allowing Wood to blow the doors open, Lamb closed the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Sherando coach Craig Bodenschatz said Lamb thrives on playing under pressure.
“I think he pitched better with runners on tonight, which I don’t want him to do ever again to me,” Bodenschatz said. “But [Lamb] is a bulldog, and he doesn’t back away from the competition.”
Sherando sealed the deal in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a Frazier two-RBI double to make it a 10-3 game. After a Braylon Clark run gave Sherando an 11-3 advantage, DeHaven ended the game two at-bats later.
Lamb pitched a complete game in the victory, allowing three hits and three runs and finishing with 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Six of Lamb’s 10 strikeouts ended with Wood batters looking.
“My fastball was working for me really well,” Lamb said. “I had it on the outside corner a lot, freezing them. And then my slider worked for me [well]. Had a couple swings and misses, a couple watches, it was working [well].”
Wood fifth-year coach Adrian Pullen thought his team didn’t match the Warriors’ performance at the plate.
“We struck out 10 times, six of them looking,” Pullen said. “Hats off to a good pitcher, but we got to swing the bats. That’s the difference in the game. They swung the bat, we didn’t, and we got to make better plays.”
Sherando’s first three runs of the game came off the heels of a two-out walk by Brayden Phillips in the bottom of the third. With Phillips on first, Hayden LaFever hit a double to center field to bring home Phillips and score the first run of the game. Usa then gave the Warriors another RBI double, this time delivering a hit down the left-field line. And to cap it off, Frazier hit a line-drive single to center field to bring home Usa and give his team a 3-0 advantage heading into the fourth.
Bodenschatz thought Sherando’s 11 hits were much more reflective of his team’s potential after the Warriors had just two hits in the season-opening loss against Strasburg.
“Sometimes it’s a little slow start just to see live pitching,” Bodenschatz said. “You don’t see it enough in the preseason, and until you start really playing games like that, pitchers are always ahead of hitters. It’ll be like that in the major leagues next week, too.”
Frazier finished the game 3 for 4 at the plate with five RBIs. The senior catcher echoed Bodenschatz’s sentiments.
“That’s a huge win to boost confidence,” Frazier said. “First of all, it gets us rolling. We [had] a tough loss first game of the year at home. [We were] really just trying to bounce back from that, and this should help us bounce back from that.”
After the game, Bodenschatz made an effort to celebrate with his third-place hitter.
“He’s our leader, and he gives us that spark,” Bodenschatz said of Frazier. “Our guys, they just seem to feed off of him. When he squares one up, everybody gets excited, and it seems to get contagious. You know, the old saying is, ‘Hitting is contagious,’ and I think that’s that’s starting to be the case the last two games for us.”
Other Sherando leaders included Usa (2 for 4, three runs, RBI) and Hayden LaFever (2 for 3, three runs, RBI).
Wood was led by Owen Neal (two RBIs) and Cade Cornwell (run, walk). Brock Whipkey pitched six strikeouts and allowed five hits and eight runs in 3.2 innings.
While it wasn’t the outcome Pullen was looking for, he believes Tuesday’s loss can be a turning point for a team that features five sophomores in the starting lineup.
“I just told them this could be the game that takes us to the state championship,” Pullen said. “It’s [about] learning what you have to do to compete in games, not win, but just to compete in games.”
James Wood will host Kettle Run on Wednesday and host Manassas Park on Friday. Sherando will travel to Strasburg on Thursday.
— Contact Justin Robertson at jrobertson@winchesterstar.com
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