Western Albemarle was just a pitch away from winning Monday’s clash with William Monroe and ending the Dragons’ eight-game win streak.
But a balk led to a tie ballgame, extra innings, and a pair of eighth-inning Monroe runs that gave the Dragons a ninth-straight victory in an 11-9 win over the Warriors.
Monroe left a number of runners on base in the game’s early stages and a couple of mistakes in the fifth opened the door for a rally by the Warriors. Western strung together four runs to grab a 6-5 lead, including a two-RBI double to the gap in left centerfield by Jack Maynard that capped the run.
“During the winning streak we’ve had, we’ve played great defense and today it looked like we were tired,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “We made two or three key errors and then Western started hitting the ball.”
Monroe broke back quickly though, putting two on in the top of the sixth after intentionally walking Logan Forloines. That put Ryan Morris at the plate with the Dragons down a run.
“I knew I had to produce and come though for my team,” Morris said. “And the first pitch I got, I liked it.”
Morris crushed the pitch for a three-run homerun that put Monroe back in front 8-6 and seemingly in control. But Kurt Adcock’s two-RBI single in the sixth plus another timely hit from Jack Maynard again put Western back in front at 9-8.
“This is a game moving forward, if they’re going to be as good as we can be along this journey, that’s a game this group will win,” said Western Albemarle coach Skip Hudgins. “We just didn’t do enough stuff that you need to do to nail it down.”
They quite nearly did. Clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the seventh, Western centerfielder Tanner Knight made a spectacular catch sprinting to his right and reaching across his body for the putout after Ryan Leake laced a ball toward the left centerfield gap. Monroe managed to load the bases after the catch though, and when nerves became a part of the equation, Western balked in the tying run with two strikes and two outs already on the player in the batter’s box.
After a scoreless bottom of the seventh for Western, the see-saw game entered extra innings. Monroe wasted little time in tacking on a pair of runs, with freshman Austin Batten unleashing a two RBI double. The 11-9 lead held up when Monroe righthander Tray Kirby, who’s thrown six innings on the year for the Dragons, got the last two outs by inducing a flyout to rightfield and closing out with a strikeout.
“He’s been talking about it all week, how he wanted to come in,” Morris said. “He came out and got the job done.”
Jacob Hirtz went 3 for 4 on the night for the Draons while Morris posted a 2-for-3 outing with four RBI, including the homerun. He also threw four solid innings as the starter, allowing just a pair of runs by Western as Monroe built a 5-2 lead. Forloines pitched, caught and set the table several times for Batten and Morris by drawing walks.
For Western, Scott Wakley and Jack Maynard piled up three hits each as the Warriors rallied in the late innings.
Both teams get a pretty significant break now, as both don’t take the field again until next Tuesday with Western facing Goochland and Monroe taking on Monticello in what will be a critical showdown in the top half of Jefferson District play.
“We were fortunate,” Mike Maynard said. “Now we’re on spring break and I told them I don’t want to see them for a few days.”
