By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
A throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed William Monroe’s baseball team to recover from blowing a two-run lead and escape with a 7-6 victory over Madison County Wednesday night.
Monroe loaded the bases with nobody out against Madison junior right-hander James Graves. Cody Spencer hit a grounder to first, and the throw home for the force got away from catcher Dylan Berry, giving the Greene Dragons the Bull Run District victory.
The Dragons led 6-4 just two outs away from victory and had held the Mountaineers scoreless since the second inning. But Berry evened things up by cranking a two-run homer to left off Monroe lefty Dustin Knight, who had only allowed one hit since taking over for starter Austin Batten in the third inning. The blast was Berry’s second of the game, as he had opened the scoring in the top of the first by turning around a Batten fastball and depositing it over the left-field fence.
Batten atoned for his mistake in the home half of the inning, knocking a two-out double to right to score Jeff Early from first and tie the score at one. Madison jumped ahead in the top of the second, sandwiching a pair of singles around a sacrifice bunt to make it 2-1. Cole Smith provided the big blow with a two-run homer to left for a 4-1 lead, but that was all the Mountaineers could do until Berry’s late blast.
“Dustin came in and kept us in the game so our offense could get rolling,” Monroe head coach Mike Maynard said. “He threw great. It was unfortunate he gave up that homer in the seventh, but we battled back. That’s baseball.”
The Dragons, meanwhile, got their offense in gear. They got a run back in the bottom of the second when Berry dropped a third strike with two outs, allowing Keegan Woolford to get to first and Spencer to score. Monroe forged ahead in the third with some small ball of its own, getting three runs on two singles helped by a sacrifice bunt to make it 5-4. Trey Lam gave Monroe an insurance run in the fourth with a solo homer to right.
“We’re very fortunate to win this one,” Maynard said. “Madison played really well tonight.”
The Dragons next face George Mason High School on the road next Wednesday, a team with whom they are tied in the Bull Run standings a half-game behind first-place Strasburg. Madison will host Warren County Tuesday evening.
