For a team almost completely turned over its starting lineup last year, it’s sure not showing very much. Once again the Albemarle baseball team witnessed an impressive performance from a starter, an outstanding evening at the plate highlighted by a Jake Hendrix blast and an error-free game — all three for the second time in as many games as the Patriots took down cross country rival Western Albemarle, 15-4.
“That’s a well coached team we played and we didn’t get going until we finally got to their bullpen,” said Albemarle coach Jimmy Bibb. “Not to be redundant, but really, our players have worked so hard to do this. You get good pitching and great defense and you put yourself in a good position to win.”
Both teams got off to strong starts defensively, with the first three innings flying by as Warriors sophomore Daniel Kuzjack kept Albemarle off guard on the mound while Patriots starter Joey Varaksa struck out one Western batter after another.
“The changeup I was throwing seemed to have (Western) off guard so I kept going with that,” Varaksa said. “I threw it throughout the game and it always seemed to work for me.”
Both teams were scoreless heading into the fourth when the Patriots bats finally warmed up.
“(Skip Hudgins) didn’t win 350 plus games without being a great coach,” Bibb said. “He threw that lefty (Kuzjack) at us and the kid was crafty. It took us a while to get going.”
After an RBI single with two outs from Benny Baranik broke the scoring drought, Zach Evans cranked a double the gap to make it a 3-0 lead for the visitors before scoring himself on a wild pitch.
“In my first at bat, I got (the ball) good,” Evans said of his pop-fly to right field in the second inning. “When I went up there the second time, Coach Bibb told me to stay on top of it and the first pitch, I probably should have hit that one, but got a great second one and got a hold of it.”
In the very next inning, Jake Hendrix made it 7-0. Visibly frustrated after missing on a pitch, Hendrix smacked the plate with his bat before coming up with his second home run of the year, this one a shot to centerfield to bring in three runs.
“(Kuzjack) got me good both of my first two times,” Hendrix said of his fence-clearing shot. “Coach Bibb told me with a new pitcher to stay back. I think I might have been looking in the third base dugout mid swing on that strike. It was nice to be able to stay back and put a good swing on it.”
But Western made it interesting in the bottom of the fourth. Varaksa had surrendered just one hit and struck out seven on the 13 batters he faced, but in effort to get more arms involved, the Patriots lead came under fire with a 4-run rally from the Warriors.
“Down 7-0 and coming back, that’s a good sign,” Hudgins said. “But we’re still doing some stuff to sabotage what we do. But we’re young and working hard on getting better. We’re not necessarily going to judge improvement based on our win/loss record. This is probably the biggest rebuild we’ve had going back to 1990 since I’ve been here.”
Caleb Dillard put Western on the board with an RBI double, and crossed home himself after an RBI triple from Tanner Knight. Then after a walk and wild pitch, Alex DeJong came through with a 1-run single. A sacrifice fly from Parker Morris made it a 3-run game going into the fifth.
Albemarle recovered though, holding Western scoreless from there on out while tallying three more runs in the fifth, two more in the sixth and six more in the seventh.
Hendrix finished the game 3 for 5 with five RBI and two extra base hits. Baranik was 2-2 with two singels. Lee Carneal had three runs scored and stole two bases in addition to going 1 for 3. With a pair of walks.Albemarle had seven different batters drive in a run.
For Western. Dillard, DeJong, Knight and Eli Sumpter were 1 for 3.
Albemarle (2-0) hosts Monticello on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Western (0-2) heads to Nelson County on Monday at 5 p.m.
