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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting

Regional tournaments have finally come to a close throughout the Commonwealth after a wet week wreaked havoc with the tournament. Hopefully, Mother Nature will be more cooperative this weekend as teams pack up their buses for the Spring Jubilees that are being hosted again this year by Radford University, Liberty University, and Robinson Secondary. Championship Saturday is looming large in the windshield, so here is a look at the State Tournament fields in each classification.

The 4A Semifinals will be played at Liberty University on Friday morning, June 12. The State Championship game will be played at Liberty on Saturday morning, June 13 at 10:00.

fauquier vs. no.5 glen allen, 9am

Fauquier is the Conference 22 champion and the Northern Region Runners-up. The Falcons defeated Jefferson Forest in the Regional Championship game, but had to forfeit the victory due to violating the Pitching Rest Regulation. Regardless, the Falcons are a strong team that has experience in tight games, having survived an E.C. Glass seventh inning comeback to win in the first round and defeating a good Woodgrove squad by one run in the semifinals of the Regional Tournament. Fauquier’s ace, Ryan Simpson (2015, Shepherd), has been dominant all season and will be a tough matchup for any opponent.

Glen Allen shared the Conference 20 Tournament Championship with Hanover and then had to wait a while before getting to finally play their Regional Tournament games, having to move their first two games to the University of Richmond. Glen Allen swept through the Regional Tournament, beating Denbigh, Powhatan, and Hanover over a span of four days and outscoring them by a combined 27-6. The Jaguars are led by two-way South Region Player of the Year Patrick Hall (2015) and fellow First Team honorees Adam Collins (2016) and Kyle Battle (2016, Old Dominion) and Second Team All-Region selection Austin Slough (2015, Christopher Newport). The Jaguars will make their first appearance in the State Tournament in just their fourth season of varsity competition.

No. 12 hanover vs. jefferson forest, 12pm

Hanover has won State Championships each of the last two years, the old AAA in 2013 and the new 4A in 2014. This year, they shared the Conference 20 tournament title with Glen Allen. In the Regional Tournament, the Hawks dominated their first two opponents, No. 14 Nansemond River and Grafton before falling in the Regional Championship game to Glen Allen. The Hawks have a very talented squad that is led by All-Region performers Grey Lyttle (2016), Camden Grimes, and Jack Dragum (2018, Virginia). The Hawks also have plenty of depth in their rotation with John Gregory (2016, Richmond) and Jacob Weis (2016, Richmond) to go with Lyttle and Dragum. Grimes, Cayman Richardson (2016, Virginia), Hayden Moore (2016, VCU), Aaron Saunders (2015, Alderson Broaddus), and Elliot Sledd (2015, Christopher Newport) make up an offensive core that is deep and can get runs in bunches.

Jefferson Forest is the Conference 24 Champions and the Northern Region Champions after defeating Eastern View and a very good Amherst team to get to the Regional Championship game. The Cavaliers are deep on the mound and have been led all season by two-way players Zach Duff (2015, Radford), Christian Bourne (2015, James Madison), and Indiana Hall (2016).