VA/DC Scout Blog: Patriot vs Battlefield 6/10
June 11, 2021
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On Thursday morning, Patriot and Battlefield took the field at a neutral site, John Champe, to break the tie between them atop the Cedar Run District standings. They had split their meetings, Battlefield winning at home, 5-2, and Patriot winning at home a few weeks later, 10-2. Having each gone unbeaten against the rest of the District, the only way to determine the District Champ was a tiebreaker game. This has happened once before in the schools' nearly 10-year old rivarly, in 2015, when Patriot met Battlefield at Pfitzner and Patriot won in extra innings. Both teams started the game with seniors on the mound, Battlefield going with righty Joe Christopher (Bridgewater) and Patriot going with lefty Kevin Warunek (Longwood).
Christopher worked a perfect first inning and Warunek was about to match him before Jackson Baird (George Mason) doubled to right-center with 2 outs and then was driven in a few pitches later on a single to right-center by Adam Kuzmicki (Stony Brook). Patriot put a pair of runners on in the second but was unable to push any of them across the plate. Warunek put up a zero in the bottom of the second, and after two innings, Battlefield led 1-0.
Battlefield was able to tack on a second run in the bottom of the third, when Luis Hernandez worked a leadoff walk and eventually stole second base. With two outs, Hernandez tried to steal third and the throw went into leftfield, allowing him to score and extend the Bobcat lead to 2-0 after three complete.
Patriot's bats answered in the top of the fourth, Kyle VanDenburg led the inning off with a triple to right-center. He scored on an RBI groundout. Mason Balsis (Middle Tennessee St) was able to bloop a single into shallow left, and his courtesy runner came in to score the tying run when Ryan Fyvie was able to just roll a 2-out grounder through the middle of the infield for an RBI single.
With the game tied, Battlefield came up in the bottom of the fourth and immediately got a threat going with a one-out walk and a single to right. After a foul pop out, Hernandez came up again and he hit a slow roller into the triangle between the mound and first base. Ultimately, he was able to beat Warunek in a foot race to first base, and the Bobcats aggressively sent their runner who started the play on second base, and he was able to score the go-ahead run, making the score 3-2 Battlefield after 4 innings.
Baird came in to relieve Christopher in the top of the fifth blowing 90 mph smoke. He was able to work relatively quick fifth and sixth innings. He was matched by Warunek's relief, junior Aaron Kanefsky, who worked two hitless innings.
The game went to the top of the seventh with Patriot trailing 3-2 and the bottom of the order due up. Baird started to lose the strike zone a bit and issued a pair of walks between a pair of outs, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base. A stolen base put the tying run just 90 feet from home, but Baird was able to get a strikeout to end the game and seal the 3-2 victory for Battlefield.
For Battlefield, Kuzmicki was 1-2 with a BB and an RBI. Hernandez was 1-2 with a BB and 2 SBs. Baird was 1-3 and went 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 K, 3 BB to pick up the save. Christopher went 4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 K, 0 BB to earn the win. For Patriot, Fyvie went 2-3 with an RBI and VanDenburg was 1-3 with a 3B. Warunek threw well in taking the loss, going 4 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 8 K, 4 BB. Kanefsky went 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 K, 1 BB in relief.
Both teams will begin Region 6B Tournament play on Monday, with Battlefield hosting Forest Park and Patriot traveling to Colonial Forge.
Patriot
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Max Ehrhardt SS / 2B / Patriot, VA / 2022Ehrhardt is 5-11 with an athletic frame that has some strength present. Didn't get any plays in the field during the game, but in the past has shown above average arm strength and hands as well as a quick lateral first step. At the plate, hits from the right side from an open athletic stance. Is short to the ball with strength at contact and extension up through the ball. Shows gap power to all fields. Swing in video was a lineout to deep center. /var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found
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Nicholas Leckert 3B / 2B / Patriot, VA / 2022Leckert is 6-0 with an athletic frame that has strength present. Also did not get a lot of action defensively, has shown average arm strength in the past and above average footwork at and hands at third. At the plate, hits from the right side from an open balanced athletic stance. Showed a shorter load and stride, short to ball, level line drive swing, has power present when he gets his arms extended. Lets barrel work. Lined out right at the second baseman on the swing in the video. /var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found
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Caleb Ramey 2B / SS / Patriot, VA / 2023Ramey is 5-10 with a lankier athletic frame that has room to add strength. Defensively, shows good lateral range and takes good angles into the hole at second base. Good going to his left, above average to soft hands and good feet. Shows some footspeed and average overall arm strength. At the plate, hits from an open, taller relaxed stance, low leg kick stride on line, good balance during swing. Very short to contact with some quickness in his bat, level line drive swing that generates some power in the gaps now with more to come in the future. Swing in the video is a ball he caught on time and in rhythm and hit a very hard one-hopper right at the shortstop. /var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found
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Kyle Vandenburg OF / C / Patriot, VA / 2022Vandenburg is 5-10 with a strong athletic frame. Nominally a catcher but plays outfield for Patriot, has the athleticism and arm strength to be fine out there, also has the versatility that he could probably play either corner infield spot in the future if asked. At the plate, open athletic stance, strides on line, smooth load back. Quick swing has some whip, has good hands, strong at contact with extension through the ball. Shows power to all fields. Swing in video was lined deep up the right-center gap, used his speed to turn what should have been a routine double into a triple. /var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found
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Kevin Warunek LHP / Patriot, VA / 2021Warunek is a Longwood commit and is 6-3 with a projectable athletic frame. Still has room to add strength, wide hips and shoulders. Throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a longer loose quick arm action and some effort to his delivery. Creates deception, hides ball well, classic lefty crossfire, shoulders are uphill and closed, lands closed with an athletic finish. Fastball was 84-89, touching 90 one time, pitch has some angle from his crossfire and long arms as well as a bit of late hard armside run. Hard slider was 77-81 with good armspeed, hard late 2/8 break to it, showed ability to bury on a righty's back foot or throw it for a strike. Overall was more control than command, but did show the ability to go in and out with the fastball and throw the slider for a strike or as a finisher. Fastball was 86-89 in the first two innings, really mostly sitting 88-89. Velocity tailed into the 84-86 range in the third and fourth. He got a late start to the season and hasn't been stretched out, which likely has something to do with that. Generated a lot of swing and misses, struck out 7 in the first three innings and overpowered most of the Battlefield lineup during that stretch. /var/www/html/login/modules/Playerss/shortcodes.json not found
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Battlefield
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Jackson Baird RHP / SS / Battlefield, VA / 2021
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Joe Christopher RHP / OF / Battlefield, VA / 2021
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Adam Kuzmicki OF / RHP / Battlefield, VA / 2021
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