Chantilly Squelches Rally, Survives 5-4
LORTON, VA - Haste is often the downfall of any epic rally.
This proved true again as Chantilly right fielder Joseph Danehower fired a perfect strike to Max Langford for the game-ending tag at third, turning an RBI single into the final out of a 5-4 thriller against West Springfield in the Northern Region semifinals.
The tying runner didn't stop at second on the play, but ice water continued to run through Danehower's veins.
"I caught the ball, saw he was going to third, and I knew I could get it there," said Danehower. "So I just let it go, and Max caught it and made a great tag."
The West Springfield pinch runner attempted to use a right field single to transport him from first to third, but Chantilly manager Kevin Ford had moved Danehower, his defensive specialist, to that spot before the final inning.
"Joe comes into the game late for us a lot," said Ford. "It's not an easy situation to go into the outfield when you haven't been out there all day, and he steps up and makes a big play. He didn't hesitate and went right after that."
The play came at the tail end of three two-out hits by West Springfield. In the previous at bat the Spartans' Ryan Sullivan fired a rocket off the shoulder of Concorde District Pitcher of the Year Patrick Somers.
But Somers, who would finish with 118 pitches in a gutsy start that earned him Gameday Radio Player of the Game honors, wasn't ready to leave.
"I was going to stay in no matter what," said Somers. "It was too close."
So Ford decided to give his ace "one more batter".
"He didn't have his best stuff tonight," said Ford, "but he's our best guy, and we want our best guy out there when the game's on the line."
Somers would scatter nine hits in his outing, while West Springfield's Mike Kent also went the distance on the other side but allowed only seven hits.
"Not much was working for me," said Somers, "but I was able to locate and get the big outs ... You really got to locate, change speeds, and keep the batters off-balance when it's not (working). "
On the Gameday Radio Network pre-game show, Lake Braddock manager Jody Rutherford predicted that the first to four runs between these two defensively astute teams would win, and he was right.
Chantilly has clinched a state playoff berth, and will face Lake Braddock at Yorktown High School on Friday in the Northern Region Championship at 7 p.m.
