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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 5A Semifinal games will be held at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax on Friday, June 12. The State Championship game will be played at Robinson Secondary in Fairfax on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00.

NO. 13 douglas freeman vs. no.24 stone bridge, 3pm

Douglas Freeman is the South Region Runners-up and advanced to the Regional Championship game by forfeit after Clover Hill won in ten innings, but violated the Pitching Rest Regulation. Freeman was the 2014 State Runners-up, and has met Hickory in Region or State Championship games three times already in the last two years. The Rebels are a talented bunch and their offense has been led by First Team All-Region selections Logan Harvey (2015, Wake Forest) and Vincent Steenburgh (2016). The rotation is anchored by All-Region selection Eric O’Brien and Daniel Lynch (2015, Virginia).

Stone Bridge is the Conference 14 champion and the back-to-back 5A North Region champion. The Bulldogs survived a tight game with a scrappy North Stafford team and then beat Mountain View before outslugging Marshall in the Northern Region Championship game. The Bulldogs are 21-5 entering the State Tournament and have been led this spring by First Team All-Region selections David Mocabee (2016), John Callahan (2016, George Mason), and Brett Kreyer (2016). Kreyer hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last four starts and Mocabee is no slouch on the mound either. The Bulldog lineup is deep and is anchored by Callahan, Mocabee, and Michael Kuzbel (2015, Columbia).

marshall vs. no.2 hickory, 7pm

Marshall is the Conference 13 champion and has gone 19-2 since a slow start this spring against a tough early schedule. The Statesmen lost the Northern Region Championship game to Stone Bridge but had beaten the Bulldogs earlier this spring. Marshall’s infield is very experienced and the lineup is anchored by Northern Region Player of the Year Mitch Blackstone (2015, Cornell) as well as fellow First Team selections Matt Borowski (2015, St. Bonaventure) and Justin Han (2016). The Statesmen pitching staff is anchored by First-Teamer William Brooke (2015, Coastal Carolina).

Hickory is the PenSouth Conference 10 champions, the South Region Champions and the defending 5A State Champions. The Hawks have been dominant in the playoffs and have been fueled by their powerful offense, scoring 30 runs in their three Regional Tournament victories. The lineup is anchored by the big bats of brothers and First Team All-Region selections Stephen Polansky (2015, Virginia Tech) and Mikey Polansky (2017, Virginia Tech) with help from Cody Schneider (2016, Radford). The Hawk rotation has been anchored all year by South Region Player of the Year Connor Eason (2015, Virginia), who has gotten help on the mound during the playoffs from Hunter Gregory (2017).