Northern Virginia second round

Stonebridge
Lake Braddock
South County
Madison

The Oakton / Lake Braddock game could be a classic. If weren't at the beach I would gladly drive up to see that one!

Hayfield has been an imposter all year. Inflated stats versus marginal competition. Little play outside the National.

I agree with Golfball's picks. Easiest pick is Madison -- Yorktown will be no match for them, because Yorktown is probably the weakest remaining team in the draw. Unfortunately for Madison, if things go as most people expect, then South County will loom next for them.

in defense of the Hayfield baseball team, it is not their fault they were slated against such weak competition all year. it was the coach's decision to schedule the teams they faced during the course of the season.

when Hayfield played Robinson on Friday, they, like the majority of the teams in the area, had to wait out a weather delay. but as far as i know the Robinson @ Hayfield game was one of the only games that was finished that day. both teams had to wait for over an hour to resume play. during this time, Robinson was placed in Hayfield's aux gym to wait our the storm. The aux gym happens to have indoor batting cages, naturally, Robinson used those cages and the delay to their advantage and was able to take batting practice for an extra hour or so. In the meantime the Hayfield team had to wait in their locker room or in the actual gymnasium while their coaches and A.D.'s worked on the field. Of course, I'm not saying that the extra bp was the only reason Robinson won but I'm sure it played a big part

quote:

Originally posted by the bigs:
in defense of the Hayfield baseball team, it is not their fault they were slated against such weak competition all year. it was the coach's decision to schedule the teams they faced during the course of the season.

when Hayfield played Robinson on Friday, they, like the majority of the teams in the area, had to wait out a weather delay. but as far as i know the Robinson @ Hayfield game was one of the only games that was finished that day. both teams had to wait for over an hour to resume play. during this time, Robinson was placed in Hayfield's aux gym to wait our the storm. The aux gym happens to have indoor batting cages, naturally, Robinson used those cages and the delay to their advantage and was able to take batting practice for an extra hour or so. In the meantime the Hayfield team had to wait in their locker room or in the actual gymnasium while their coaches and A.D.'s worked on the field. Of course, I'm not saying that the extra bp was the only reason Robinson won but I'm sure it played a big part

Sounds like poor planning all the way around for Hayfield...start to finish. I don't, and I am guessing no many do, blame the players, but the non-district schedule...coupled with the areas weakest district schedule, keeping in starters for complete games against FAR inferior competition
in order to bloat stats and wins...too funny on not having your own team wait out the rain delay where the indoor cages are....wow

Stone Bridge 3 Robinson 2
South County 11 Westfield 1
Madison 11 Yorktown 8
Lake Braddock 13 Oakton 12

No upsets, but sounds like some great baseball!

Details please..

Yorktown was up 7-3 after 4 but ran out of pitching and was probably outcoached. Madison led 8-7 after 5 but Yorktown tied in the top of the 6th on VMI-bound Red Dowdell's 2nd homer of the day. Madison put up 3 in the bottom half on 2 homers to pretty much put it away.

Oakton Details: From Nicole Trifone of the OAKTON PATCH

Sports
Oakton's Rally Falls Short in Season-Ending Loss
Chris Hanson hits 3 for 5, five RBI

By Nicole Trifone | Email the author | 3:00am

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Chris Hanson leads off from second base after hitting a three-run double to put the Cougars within one run of tying the Northern Region tournament game Monday. Kim Knoll Photos (2)
Tell Your Neighbors About Patch In a high-scoring second round of the Northern Region baseball tournament, Oakton fell just short of defeating Lake Braddock, ending their season with the 13-12 loss.

At its worse, the Cougars' deficit stood at 10 runs. But rallies in the fifth and seventh brought them to within a run of tying the game and forcing extra innings.

"I'm very proud of these kids. There was no quit," said Justin Janis, Oakton's head coach.

Chris Hanson started things off for the Cougars in the first inning, driving in Chad Carroll for the first run of the game.

But the Bruins broke the game wide open in the third inning, scoring nine runs, three unearned, on eight hits — including a grand slam from right fielder Ryan Owens.

The Cougars took back one of those runs with a fielder's choice RBI from Hanson in the bottom of the third. But the Bruins just answered with two more runs in the fourth on a home run from Quinteros and another run in the fifth off an RBI single from Dylan O'Connor for a score of 12-2.

The Cougars have made a habit of coming from behind to win games, with the last comeback win Saturday to advance to the second round of the regional tournament.

"In these elimination games you're never really comfortable until the seventh inning is over," said Jody Rutherford, Lake Braddock's head coach. "I was telling my coaches this is the most uncomfortable I've ever been with a 10-run lead."

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars showed once again they wouldn't go down easy. They scored seven runs of their own to bring the score to 12-9.

The inning started with a double from Chad Carroll, followed by a walk from Luke Willis. A wild pitch from Bruins starter Michael Church allowed both runners to advance to second and third, putting the speedy base runners in perfect position to score off John Titus' pinch-hitting single. Though Hanson kept the rally going with a ground ball to right field, the inning hit a hiccup with a popout for the first out.

Mason Hauser kept things going with a line drive single to right field to load the bases, and the Bruins responded by relieving Michael Church, the starting pitcher, with Thomas Rogers.

But the rally kept going. Rogers walked Aaron Rochkind, which scored Titus, and then Austin Lamon was hit by a pitch, which scored Hanson. Joey Bartosic hit a ground ball to the second baseman, who tried to throw the runner out at second, but a nice slide from Walker Webster — pinch running for Lamon — knocked the ball out of the way allowing all runners to reach safely, including Hauser at home to put the score at 12-7.

Back at the top of the lineup, Carroll hit a two-run double to cap off the rally at seven runs, leaving the score at 12-9 heading into the sixth.

In the top of the seventh inning, Rogers hit an RBI line drive single as an insurance run for the Bruins. An insurance run that would end up being the game-winner, as the Cougars started to rally again in the seventh.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Hanson hit a two-out, three-run double to bring the Cougars within one run of tying the game.

"This whole season we've come back from bad games, so I felt like we could keep going," Hanson said. "I didn't try to do too much in that last at-bat. I just tried to put the bat on the ball and saw what happened."

But the rally would not continue this time, as a groundout ended the inning and the game with the Bruins victorious.

"You hope you play a little better in the beginning of the game to eliminate that one big inning, but it is what it is. What happened happened, and I'm proud of the guys for not giving up and fighting until that last pitch," Janis said.

Janis remains positive about next season, though he acknowledges he's losing a strong group of guys to graduation.

"It always hurts to lose a senior class like we're going to lose, but hopefully the youngers kids have learned from them and continue to build on it," he said.

And Hanson and his fellow seniors will look back on the season fondly.

"I mean this team really taught me what it means to be resilient," Hanson said. "I know there wasn't a time this year that we've given up in here. Win or lose, we went down swinging. Honestly, this is the most fun I've ever had on a baseball team."

Cougar stats:

Hits: Chris Hanson (double, two singles), Chad Carroll (two doubles), Luke Willis (single), John Titus (single), Mason Hauser (single), Austin Lamon (single)
RBI: Hanson (5), Titus (2), Carroll (2), Aaron Rochkind (1), Lamon (1), Joey Bartosic (1)

quote:

Sounds like poor planning all the way around for Hayfield...start to finish. I don't, and I am guessing no many do, blame the players, but the non-district schedule...coupled with the areas weakest district schedule, keeping in starters for complete games against FAR inferior competition in order to bloat stats and wins...too funny on not having your own team wait out the rain delay where the indoor cages are....wow

I saw many Hayfield games this season given I live about 300 yards from the front doors of Hayfield SS, and am a baseball fan. I saw that entire game, and waited it out with my son and his friends. I too thought it was ridiculous that Robinson kept on taking BP in the training room while Hayfield hung out in the halls and baseketball courts. That clearly factored in the loss.

Extra BP would have helped because the main reason I think Hayfield lost was pitching. In that, Robinsons's #1 and #2 pitchers just handcuffed Hayfield's hitters, while Hayfield's best pitcher was hit pretty well (and maybe all that extra BP paid off). I definitely think Hayfield still loses if they took a lot of extra BP and Robinson didn't.

As for being "imposters," as someone else noted, the players play who they are scheduled to play, and being in a week conference is no crime and if they play weak non-conference games, again, not their "fault" per se. But, was this a sound managing/scheduling policy? We'll see I suppose.

quote:

Originally posted by Batty67:

quote:

Sounds like poor planning all the way around for Hayfield...start to finish. I don't, and I am guessing no many do, blame the players, but the non-district schedule...coupled with the areas weakest district schedule, keeping in starters for complete games against FAR inferior competition in order to bloat stats and wins...too funny on not having your own team wait out the rain delay where the indoor cages are....wow

I saw many Hayfield games this season given I live about 300 yards from the front doors of Hayfield SS, and am a baseball fan. I saw that entire game, and waited it out with my son and his friends. I too thought it was ridiculous that Robinson kept on taking BP in the training room while Hayfield hung out in the halls and baseketball courts. That clearly factored in the loss.

Extra BP would have helped because the main reason I think Hayfield lost was pitching. In that, Robinsons's #1 and #2 pitchers just handcuffed Hayfield's hitters, while Hayfield's best pitcher was hit pretty well (and maybe all that extra BP paid off). I definitely think Hayfield still loses if they took a lot of extra BP and Robinson didn't.

As for being "imposters," as someone else noted, the players play who they are scheduled to play, and being in a week conference is no crime and if they play weak non-conference games, again, not their "fault" per se. But, was this a sound managing/scheduling policy? We'll see I suppose.

Like I said earlier, I highly doubt anyone is blaming the players for the schedule. As for your question about "managing/scheduling policy"...looks like that question has already been answered.

I guess it all comes down to conference play and post-conference play expectations and outcomes. And I sure don't know what the Hayfield coaching staff, in conjunction with whomever they coordinate with, wanted to achieve in Spring 2011.