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Tuesday saw the second day of the Stafford Spring Break Tournament as five teams met in three games at Stafford High School. Here are brief recaps and notes from the three games, look for a full Scout Blog post on all five teams at the end of the week.

Stafford 2, Riverbend 1

In the first game of the day, Riverbend got off to a quick start in the top of the first as junior shortstop Seth Sherman led the game off with a double off of Stafford senior starting pitcher Ryan Hill and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. Riverbend sent Seth Beaty to the mound for the start and he worked a scoreless first.

Hill fired a perfect second inning and Stafford was able to tie the score in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of an error allowing the leadoff hitter, centerfielder Tristan McAlister, to reach base to start the inning. After bunting him to second, McAlister stole third and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Grant Fuller. After two, the game was tied 1-1.

Hill again worked a perfect inning in the third and the Stafford offense went to work again, with sophomore shortstop Tucker Sullivan reaching with a one-out walk and stealing second base. Senior catcher Chris Trisler ripped a single down the leftfield line, driving in Sullivan and giving Stafford a 2-1 lead after three innings.

That would be it for the scoring in this game as Hill became the story of the game, shutting down the Bears offense after that run in the first and not allowing a runner to reach second base until a two-out double in the seventh. Stafford would mount a few more threats to try and extend their lead, but could not push anything across and hung on to win 2-1.

For Riverbend, Beaty took the loss, throwing well across 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 HBP, 1 BB. Sherman was 1-3 with a 2B, Tony Skinner was 2-3 with a 2B, and Maceo Christmas was 1-2 with a BB.

For Stafford, Hill got the win, going 7 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K and going 1-2 at the plate. Sullivan was 0-2 with a BB, SB, and a R. Trisler was 2-2 with an RBI and a HBP.

 

Colonial Forge 4, No. 20 Western Albemarle 1

Colonial Forge sent junior A.J. Zeak to the mound for the start and he worked a quick, perfect top of the first inning. The Warriors sent sophomore Garrett Payne (NC State) to the mound and after a strikeout of the leadoff hitter, Forge’s offense got to work quickly. Sophomore shortstop Robert Moffett singled to right and junior catcher Jake Wortman ripped a double to right to put two in scoring position for the Eagles. Payne got the second out on a strikeout and looked to be out of the inning, but Kennard McNeal beat out a grounder to short for an infield single, and both runners scored. After the first, Colonial Forge had a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Western Albemarle’s bats got going as well. A leadoff single and a walk put two on with no outs, but a double play appeared to snuff a threat out until a two out single by Tyler Jones drove a run in. After another walk loaded the bases, Zeak got a line out to end the inning. Payne threw a perfect second and the score was Forge 2, Western 1 after two innings.

The third through fifth innings went very quickly as both pitchers settled in, Payne came out after the fourth and was replaced by Luke Tenuta. The Warriors again went down quietly in the top of the sixth and after Tenuta struck out the first batter of the bottom of the sixth, Moffett drew a walk and Wortman singled to right to put runners on the corners. After Wortman’s courtesy runner stole second, Nate Zimmerman singled to right, driving in two runs and extending the Colonial Forge lead to 4-1. Zeak worked around an infield single and an error in the seventh to finish the complete game and seal the win.

For Western Albemarle, Payne took the loss, going 4 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K while also going 0-2 with a BB at the plate. Jacob Lively was 1-1 with 2 BBs. Jones was 1-3 with an RBI, and Wyatt Hull was 1-3.

For Forge, Zeak earned the win going 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K. Moffett was 1-2 with a BB and 2 R. Wortman was 2-3 with 2 R and a 2B. Zimmerman was 1-3 with 2 RBI. McNeal was 1-3 with 1 RBI and 2 SBs.

 

Cosby 12, Stafford 2

The nightcap saw Cosby take on the hosts, with Stafford sending junior Michael Tolson (Old Dominion) to the mound and Cosby starting sophomore Allan Williamson. The Titans got things going quickly in the top of the first as junior Cade Swisher (Virginia Tech) drew a leadoff walk and then scored when Zach Hoekstra doubled to deep left. Hoekstra would score on a wild pitch later in the inning and Ethan Iannuzzi doubled off the top of the leftfield fence, driving in another run. In the bottom of the first, Williamson got three quick outs for a perfect inning. After one, Cosby led 3-0.

In the second, Tolson worked a perfect frame, including making a very good play on a bunt base hit attempt. In the bottom of the inning, singles by Tristan McAlister and Tucker Sullivan put runners on the corners with one out, and Ryan Hill drove a run in with a sacrifice fly to cut the Cosby lead to 3-1 after two innings.

Tolson worked around a pair of walks in the third to put up another scoreless inning in the third, and in the bottom half of the inning, a two out walk and a wild pitch put a runner in scoring position for Stafford as the Indians threatened to cut into the deficit again. Senior catcher Chris Trisler ripped a ball deep down the leftfield line which would have fallen in for an RBI double, except for Iannuzzi coming out of nowhere to make a spectacular diving catch to end the inning with the score still 3-1.

Cosby put the game away in the top of the fourth, after a ground out to open the inning, a single and two walks loaded the bases and ended Tolson’s day on the mound, with Stafford turning to lefty Grant Fuller in a tough spot. Fuller walked a run in and then gave up a two run double to deep left to Andrew Weight, which was followed up by a mammoth three-run home run off the bat of catcher Ethan Williams (Harford CC). After a single and a walk, Fuller was replaced by Joe Tolson, who allowed one more run to score before escaping the inning with Cosby now ahead 10-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Stafford tried to respond as Williamson walked the bases loaded with no outs. The Titans went to the bullpen and brought in Russell Bowles, who was able to get a comebacker for the first out and then a double play ball to end the inning with the score still 10-1.

Cosby would add two more runs in the top of the fifth and Stafford answered with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning, but the game ended there with a final score of 12-2, sending Cosby’s record to 6-1 so far this season.

For Stafford, Conor Mangin was 1-2 with a run and a BB. Tristan McAlister was 1-2 with a run and a BB, and Sullivan was 1-1 with a BB.

For Cosby, Williamson went 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 K. Swisher was 0-2 with 2 BB and 2 R. Hoekstra was 2-2 with 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R. Williams was 3-4 with a HR, 2 R, and 4 RBI.

 

Scouting Notes

Colonial Forge

-Wortman looked good as always receiving, throwing looked much better, was 2.09-2.22 between innings. Aggressive at plate, swing looked good from left side, barreled a ball hard in each at-bat

-Zeak was 74-78, touched 80, showed a 2-shape curveball that was 64-68.

-Moffett is a very smooth fielder with soft hands and a good base, short swing with line drive potential

 

Cosby

-Williamson was 79-82, touched 83. Didn’t show much offspeed, has projection

-Williams showed his power and batspeed, pops were 1.94-2.02 between innings

-Swisher showed a good approach at the plate, taking what was given. Very smooth fielder with good actions and strong arm

-Bowles was 76-78 from a low slot with a lot of sink

-Weight, Hoekstra, and Iannuzzi all showed some batspeed and athleticism that makes them intriguing

 

Riverbend

-Beaty was 76-77 from a lower slot, changeup at 71, curveball at 64

-Seth Sherman is a smooth fielder with soft hands, short stroke with some batspeed, line drive-high average hitter

-Christmas is strong, and that strength translates to some batspeed and power

 

Stafford

-Trisler was 2.1-2.25 on his pops, arm has some strength and was accurate, barreled a ball in each at-bat across two games, has some doubles power

-Tolson was 78-82, touched 83. Quick arm, showed a good slider at 66-68. Struggled with command

-Sullivan has a chance to be special, lefty swinger with a short quick stroke. Smooth fielder with a loose strong arm

-Hill has some pitchability and pounds the strike zone

 

Western Albemarle

-Payne was 79-82, touched 83. Outstanding slider was 71-75. Very lanky and tall, lot more in the tank for the recent NC State commit. Athlete, has a chance at the plate too

-Tenuta is an offensive line prospect, was 84-87, touched 88 on the mound, slider was 77

-Junior Jack Masloff showed some batspeed at the plate and threw well in pregame, the lefty will be interesting to see on the mound.

-Hull has a short line drive swing and barreled the ball consistently

 

For full scouting notes and videos, watch for the VA/DC Scout Blog post for this game later this week.

 

More 2018 HS Notebook