After a fast start to the year at the plate, Western Albemarle freshman Garrett Payne has, completely understandably, slowed down a little bit of late.
That slow down is over. Payne got going in a big way Tuesday night in the Warriors’ 7-2 win over Fluvanna County going 2-for-3 with three RBI including a bases clearing triple in the second inning.
“He got off to a fast start and then varsity baseball caught up to him a little bit but it says a lot about him that he’s been able to hang in there and have a night like he did tonight,” said Western Albemarle coach Skip Hudgins.
Payne and the rest of the lineup’s effort was more than enough for the Warriors (11-3, 8-2 Jefferson District) as Derek Domecq largely cruised on the mound. Domecq had a perfect game going into the sixth inning before a triple by Cameron Shields broke up that effort. Domecq allowed a pair of runs in the seventh but finished with six strikeouts, just four hits allowed and two walks.
“Derek was Derek,” Hudgins said. “I thought he ran out of gas a little bit and it would’ve been nice right there to say ‘hey you’ve gotten us to this point’ but we don’t have that luxury right now.”
Fluvanna (9-7, 5-6 JD) couldn’t solve Domecq for most of the game, and by the time they could it was too little too late with Nathan Gentry and Colby DeForge knocking in two runs in the seventh inning. A couple of early errors complicated Fluvanna freshman Kevin Ward’s start on the mound but Noah Brown came in and locked the Warriors down for most of his four inning stretch before giving up a pair of runs in the sixth.
“Noah has been consistent all year long for us,” said Fluvanna coach Mike Sheridan. “He’s not going to come in and dazzle anyone but he’s going to come in and compete. Hats off to Derek (Domecq) tonight, he was really good.”
For the Warriors at the plate, Ryan Sukovich continued to produce with a pair of RBI. Wyatt Hull helped make things happen at the plate with a sacrifice in the first to set up Sukovich’s RBI and also knocked in a run of his own. Matt Mandell also had an RBI while Lucas Adam scored twice while going 2-for-3 at the plate.
The Warriors’ hitting continues to find itself in spurts. After an explosive outing against Monticello, Western struggled against Powhatan, but according to Hudgins, the Warriors’ bats actually started to come out in what is currently a suspended game against Culpeper Monday where Western got going in the sixth before weather cut it short.
“I thought it carried over, I thought we swung the bats really well early,” Hudgins said. “Wyatt Hull coming on has really helped us, Matty Mandell has been as solid as a rock and Ryan Sukovich was on the beam tonight too. So up and down our lineup we swung the bat pretty well.”
The Warriors will try and wrap up that game with Culpeper Wednesday before taking on rival Albemarle later this week while Fluvanna takes on Powhatan on the road Wednesday.
