Pitching depth, defense and opportunistic hitting has given Powhatan’s opponents fits. It was that way in the regular season and remains true after two rounds of postseason play as the Indians topped Monticello for the fourth time, this time in the Region II championship, as Jamie Schaller, Luke Scherzer and Tanner Phillips all took the mound to lead the way for a 6-2 win.
“All three previous games were extremely competitive and Monticello’s one of the best teams we’ve played all year,” said Powhatan coach Gregg Conner. The two regular season games and the Jefferson District championship all finished with Connor’s team winning 4-3. “We knew they were hot coming in, but we wanted to win and not throw all our bullets at the same time.”
Monticello drew first blood out of the gates thanks to a Connor Lilley walk, Sam Patterson single and Kyle Jacobson reaching base on an error all in succession with two out.
“The big thing is that my guys battled all week to get this opportunity to play for a championship,” said Mustangs coach Corey Hunt. “If they don’t fight and claw earlier in the week, we don’t get this opportunity.”
But the Indians took the lead immediately after that and never let the Mustangs reclaim it.
Powhatan got started offensively when Matt Lyman was hit by a pitch to leadoff the bottom of the first and Scherzer followed up with a 2-run home run.
In the third inning, Monticello tied the game thanks to a leadoff double from Max Mann, a ground out from Josh Malm and a wild pitch allowing Mann to take home. But just like in the first inning, the Indians had an answer.
Extra base hits were the theme for Powhatan and the bottom of the third saw them come with two outs starting with a solo blast from Nick Maiolo and a single from Tyler Allen followed by an RBI triple from Zack Bartlett to make it 4-2.
The score stood that way until the bottom of the sixth when Powhatan capitalized on a mistake, again with two outs. Carter Biringer came out with a 2-out single to get things going. Alex Higuchi then reached base on an error allowing Biringer to score. Higuchi was then plated on an RBI single from Lyman.
“They made a couple of mistakes and we came through after them and that’s something we’ve done all year,” Conner said. “We’re not a team that gets 100 hits but we get timely hits. I hate to use the cliché but its true – good defense, good pitching and timely hitting is a great combo.”
Schaller, Scherzer and Phillips gave up just one earned run in seven innings. Schaller did the heavy lifting with just three hits given up in four inning. Scherzer threw two and third innings with just two hits surrendered to five strikeouts dealt. Phillips close out the seventh for the win.
The win allows Powhatan to host its Group AA quarterfinal contest against King George on Tuesday.
Monticello, having earned its state tournament bid in the previous round, will head to Grafton on Tuesday.
“I know everyone is very excited, ecstatic to be able to play in the state tournament,” Hunt said. “I also know the guys are ready for the challenge. We just have to limit our mistakes to be able to win, be able to put everything together like we have recently and see what happens. I know the fight is there in them.”
