It’s no secret, and it isn’t at all complicated. Win more faceoffs in lacrosse and you’ll have more scoring chances, and, usually, that’s going to lead to wins.
That’s why Albemarle’s Dalton Stokes and Blue Ridge’s Bubba Delaney played huge roles in their squads’ home victories last week. Both put together huge games at the faceoff X, with Stokes dominating against Stafford to the tune of a 17-to-5 team advantage on face-offs while Delaney took 70 percent of his faceoffs against Virginia Episcopal in a critical win for the Barons.
Stokes’ emergence is particularly exciting for the Patriots, who had the benefit of leaning on Ari Elgort the last two years. Elgort, now at Christopher Newport, won 85 percent of his faceoff chances as a senior, and that turned into a lot of goals for Albemarle. Clearly Stokes, who made the junior varsity as an eighth grader because of his face-off ability, is prepared to step into the role.
“He’s just quick, smart and he did a really good job there,” said Albemarle coach Pat McAdams.
McAdams indicated that several other players should see time on the face for the Patriots, but Stokes should give them a consistent presence there. If he stays at his early season clip, the Patriots’ electric attack unit would certainly reap the benefits. The team picked up a big win late last week against St. Christopher’s, winning 8-5.
Delaney had a major impact for the Barons Saturday in the win over VES. He did an excellent job of leveraging Virginia Episcopal’s face-off man in key situations, which helped spark Blue Ridge’s 3-0 run that started the third quarter.
While Stokes is a little taller, Delaney is built low to the ground and knows how to use that to his advantage. He also proved he wasn’t afraid to get dirty, which a face-off man can’t be, diving and sprawling on a dusty field in St. George all day.
Delaney should be a critical piece for the Barons all year, and he should take some of the pressure off first-year head coach Nic Bell if he can keep winning face-offs at that rate.
Avoiding the dreaded slide
Baseball coaches tend to have a slightly different attitude when it comes to winning and losing. No other sport endorses the philosophy of ‘it just wasn’t our night’ like baseball.
Whenever Fluvanna baseball drops a contest, its coach, Mike Sheridan, has a phrase he likes to open with. “One thing is sure in baseball – you’re going to lose sixty games.”
Of course that’s a reference to the professional ranks where there are 162 games. And when you factor in that the high school ranks plays two fewer innings a game, while the bare bones of the sport is very similar on both levels, there is a level of pressure for prep players that is noteworthy.
In the first week of play, two of last year’s three teams in Central Virginia to make the regional playoffs, Albemarle and Western Albemarle, have swallowed a tough pill.
The Patriots got their early reality check when they fell at home to Monticello 6-2. Three days later, the Warriors got theirs when they were hammered by the Patriots 17-2.
And much like Sheridan, Western coach Skip Hudgins was concerned with his team’s play, but not panicked.
“Its baseball and you’re going to have bad days,” Hudgins said. “But the high school season doesn’t have 160-some games in it. So you can’t have too many.”
Albemarle has already bounced back from what they felt was a bad day, and will no doubt look to return the favor against the Mustangs tonight. But it will be interesting to see how Western follows up to Friday’s loss when they host a good Louisa County team also tonight.
With post season district tournaments, no loss in March is going to define a season. But at that same time, finding out if you’ve got a resilient bunch that knows how to rebound from a tough loss matters at all times of the year.
Buckingham catcher to continue softball playing days
Marci Christian was a big part of Buckingham County’s post season run last year, both defensively and offensively and the Knight’s senior catcher will be continuing her softball playing days next season when she suits up for Longwood.
Buckingham backstop earned first team All-James River in the last two seasons, as well as a first team All-Region B nod in 2008 when she had the highest batting average for Buckingham. The 5-foot-7 catcher is a year round player, and when she’s not behind the plate for Buckingham, she’s playing for the Richmond Ruckus’ 18 and under club team.
Christian was instrumental in Buckingham’s 5-0 win last week on the road against Fluvanna, going 1-2 but reaching base three times and stealing four bags.
