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Team Notes

Brentsville District is the Region B champion and has gone 15-2 since a slow start to the spring. Mason Posey (George Mason) and sophomore Vincent DiMauro have given the Tigers some strong performances on the mound and Posey and Garrett Cornell (King) have anchored the middle of the lineup. Posey has taken some tough assignments on the mound and has a 2.25 ERA this spring with 64 strikeouts. DiMauro also has a sub-1 WHIP to go with an ERA under 2.50 as well. Brentsville's run has been fueled by the return of Sam Beard behind the plate to solidify the defense. Also offensively, Posey is hitting .456 this spring and Cornell is also over .400 with close to 30 RBIs and Sam Llaneza is over .400 as well.

York is the Region A runner-up and has had an up and down spring as a Class 3 school in a predominantly Class 4 district. The Falcons have enjoyed playing Class 3 competition in the playoffs, winning five games in a row before falling to Hopewell in the Region championship. Joe O'Brien has had some strong performances down the stretch on the mound and has also had a hot bat of late. Mark Evans (Hampden-Sydney) provides a good power/speed threat at the top of the York lineup.

Hopewell is the Region A champions after winning a pair of tight games and in the first two rounds of the Region tournament and then beating York comfortably in the Championship. The Blue Devils have been led on the mound by Brendan McComber, who has a 1.55 ERA in 54.1 innings this spring. Trey Burton has had a solid season as the second option on the mound. Ricky Jones (Richmond) has been the story of the spring at the plate for Hopewell, hitting .582 with 19 extra base hits while also stealing 15 bases. Burton has also been solid at the plate as well and Ryan Johnson has a .506 on base percentage this spring.

Spotsylvania is the Region B runner-up and saw its 8 game winning streak snapped in the Region championship game. The Knights are returning to the State Tournament this spring and have been carried by the bats of Max Harper, who is hitting .451 with 5 home runs, and Jonathan Rivard (Virginia Tech), who's lone home run this spring was a walk off to clinch the State Tournament berth. Trevor Croson has also been a key offensive contributor, with a .481 on-base percentage this spring. On the mound, Eugene Snyder has been dominant this spring with a 1.11 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. Rivard has been good on the mound as well and Croson has emerged as a capable third arm, giving the Knights more depth than most teams have.

Fluvanna County is the Region C champion and has seen the emergence of sophomores Kevin Ward and Andrew Ward on the mound this spring as a young Flucco team has far exceeded expectations. Fluvanna has shown that they can win big games against tough teams, with 2 wins over Western Albemarle as well as wins over bigger Louisa and Orange.

Northside is the Region D runner-up and earned their Region bid last Thursday after waiting nearly a week to get their semifinal against Cave Spring in. They turned around and played Abingdon immediately with most of their pitching burned. The long layoff did allow the Vikings to start Evan Parks in both of their Region wins, and he was very good in both games.

Western Albemarle is the Region C runner-up and the Warriors are very deep on the mound. Derek Domecq (Radford), Jack Masloff, Garrett Payne (NC State), and Luke Tenuta give the Warriors the kind of depth that would make them a favorite win the whole thing. Western has struggled to score at times this year and will need to avoid shootouts to win.

Abingdon is the Region D champions and would be among the favorites in Class 6 with the talent that they have on roster. The Falcons haven't lost since mid-April and has a lineup that boasts four Division I hitters. Abingdon has only scored less than 10 runs twice in their current 11 game winning streak. Senior Thomas Francisco (East Carolina) just set the VHSL career hits record and fellow senior Cade Hungate (Florida State) also takes the mound as the top arm. 

 

Staff Picks

Nolan-I think we get a Region B championship rematch in the Eastern semifinal, with Brentsville again winning and advancing to the Championship game. The Tigers have been on fire since getting Llaneza back from injury in April. In the Western half, the game of the entire tournament is Western Albemarle at Abingdon, and despite how deep WA is on the mound, give me Abingdon there. Fluvanna has been a great story this year and I think they win the opener, but Abingdon will beat them in the semifinals. Abingdon defeats Brentsville in the championship, the Falcons are just too loaded not to win.

Shank-I think this is Abingdon's tournament to win, but they will by far have an extremely tough road to get there. Western Albemarle has some of the top arms in the state and if they get offensive contribution, could definitely take out Abingdon. Abingdon will then face a tough Fluvanna team that has been a bit of a surprise with some younger arms stepping into big roles. But Abingdon makes it past both and will be well battletested for Spotsylvania, who makes it to the final winning their rematch against Brentsville in the semi-final. 

 

 

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