By Besty Haugh / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Albemarle Post 74 completed District 13 Tournament play Monday night, defeating Spotsylvania Post 320 in eight innings by a score of 11-0 to capture the district title and advance to the American Legion State Tournament for the third straight year.
Post 74 struggled early to record the extra-base hits fans have grown accustomed to seeing, but managed to grind out two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to patient approaches and efficient at-bats.
“We executed there to get two runs, and you always want to try to score first,” said Post 74 coach Mike Maynard. “That kind of relaxed us a little bit.”
Jordan Gentry and Joey Varaksa led off the inning with back-to-back walks, continuing Post 74’s patient approach that enabled them to find success against the same Spotsylvania team earlier in the tournament. Gentry stole second, and both runners later advanced on a ball in the dirt to put runners at second and third with no outs. Logan Forloines drove in Gentry on the first of two consecutive sacrifice ground outs to second base, with Danny Morris recording the second RBI on the next at-bat.
What showed early signs of being an offensive showdown was quickly over-shadowed by the defense, as Albemarle pitcher Danny Spinosa stole the show, proving he was more than comfortable with a two-run lead.
With the fastball as his dominant weapon, Spinosa pitched 6 and a third innings of no-hit baseball, allowing only two walks during that span. The Columbia signee surrendered his first hit to Nick Lasik in the sixth, as the center fielder hammered a double, one of only two times Spotsylvania was able to put men in scoring position on the night.
“I was trying to pitch inside a lot, because I know a couple of their guys were getting around at the plate, so I wanted to just jam them inside,” Spinosa said.
Spinosa went 7 and 2/3 innings, allowing just the one hit and recording eight strikeouts en route to picking up the shut-out victory.
“That was unbelievable, he threw a great game,” Maynard said. “Our plan was to go David (Spinosa) and then Chris (Madison) – you know David six (innings), Chris three or whatever – and he was throwing too well. We told him when he got to 110 pitches I was going to stop him, and he made it to 111, but he threw great. He’s been great for us all year.”
Spinosa’s dominating performance was propelled by strong defensive play behind him with his infield making one play after another.
“The defense made pretty much every play out there,” Spinosa said.
“We’re pretty set on the infield, we don’t make many errors,” third baseman Danny Morris added. “We’re real confident as a team, which helps a lot.”
The offense also provided support, eventually hitting their groove and finding the gaps to get runners aboard.
“We weren’t really hitting the ball at first, not like we usually do,” Morris said. “[We were] hitting a lot of ground balls, popping up, taking some bad at bats, but later on in the game we settled down.”
After being held hitless in the second and third innings by Spotsylvania’s Dylan Snellson, Post 74’s Dale Richardson got things going with a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth. After advancing to third on an error, Richardson scored on a routine infield out, with Eli Haden recording the RBI. Three straight singles from Thomas Stallings, Gentry, and Varaksa allowed Albemarle to plate two more runners, as Gentry drove home Stallings, and Varaksa brought in Gentry, making the score 5-0.
A Forloines RBI in the sixth allowed Gentry to score his third run of the game, and a two-run home run from Stallings in the following inning added insurance to Post 74’s lead.
With a third-straight slaughter rule within reach, Varaksa kicked off the eighth inning by earning a walk. A Forloines double would plate Varaksa and set the stage for Danny Morris, who blasted a two-run walk off homerun to seal the deal and clinch Albemarle a spot in the state tournament.
“(It was) just a swing, a nice swing, and a nice fastball,” Morris said of his walk-off shot.
Post 74 will have a week off before reporting to the state tournament at Liberty University next Monday. The squad will begin play Tues. July 26, with the time and opponent to be determined.
