Brocke's Big Night Lifts Spartans Past Louisa 10-1
ASHBURN, VA - With one game to win and the state tournament within reach, the Broad Run baseball team entered Wednesday's regional semi final with Louisa with plenty to lose and plenty to gain. The Spartans hadn't reached the state playoffs since 1996, but had knocked on the door several times in recent years. Not the case on Wednesday as the Spartans exorcised some demons and advanced to the regional championship Friday against Brentsville, and more importantly, locked in a state quarterfinal berth Tuesday.
"The first few years I was here we were playing at the Group AAA level, and we had 800 kids," said Cassidy. "We competed hard but it was really tough. But now that we have settled a bit in Group AA, each year we have been getting closer and closer to getting back to the state tournament, tonight we got it done."
It didn't start out too well for Broad Run as Louisa's first hitter, Kurt Fleming, sent a Cole Shain changeup over the left centerfield fence to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Shain, who gave up just 5 hits on the night, said Fleming did a good job of hitting a mistake pitch.
"He put a good swing on a changeup that I left up, but we came back and one run isn't going to get Broad Run," said Shain.
Shain settled in after giving up the first inning blast, and the rest was history. The Spartans tied the score in the bottom half of the first when Andrew Mann doubled down the left field line and Chris Jessop singled to drive in Mann.
As the second inning began, the Lions hit the brakes with their momentum and the Spartans put the pedal to the floor. In the bottom half of the 2nd, Broad Run exploded with 6 runs, capped off with a Trey Brocke bases loaded double. Brocke's double against Louisa pitcher Gunner Carroll proved to be the crushing blow as Louisa's Ace never looked the same the rest of the game.
"He was hitting the outside corner on me, so I just scooted up on the plate a bit with two strikes and tried to go with it," said Brocke.
Broad Run's 2nd inning outburst took place with 2 outs already in the inning. Lousia failed to pose much of an offensive threat the rest of the night as Shain settled in and was helped by the Lions' impatience at the plate. From the 3rd inning to the 6th, Louisa hitters swung at a first pitch from Shain 7 times and each of those resulted in quick easy outs.
Broad Run added to their 6 run lead in the 5th inning, scoring 3 more runs behind a Brocke standup triple, and several clutch hits with two outs again. Leading by 9 runs with two innings to go was good feeling according to Shain, who completed the game on the mound.
"That's the biggest cushion we've had early in a game all year, so it felt good to pitch behind," said Shain.
Brocke finished 3 for 4 on the night with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored in the contest. Cassidy, who after the game was slammed talking with the local media, said this win was a great team effort.
"We have a great group of kids and they played hard tonight, and deserve to be in the state playoffs."
Broad Run will travel to top seeded Brentsville on Friday night to play for the regional championship. The game's winner will host a Tuesday state quarterfinal game, and the loser will travel to a higher seed. The Spartans improved to 22-3 on the season with the win.
