Lake Braddock Swings Into Finals 7-2
LORTON, VA - Lake Braddock's 20-run explosion in the regional quarterfinals seemed a fluke as Oakton's Bret Williams no-hit the Bruin lineup through three innings in Wednesday's semifinals.
That was until the fourth showed shades of Monday, as Williams' no-no slammed into the once-again potent Lake Braddock bats. A Jordan Tiamson three-run homer blew open the six run inning that highlighted the Bruins 7-2 victory, earning them a spot in both the Northern Region finals and the state playoff tournament.
"I thought we came out and maybe tried to do too much after putting up so many runs last game," said Lake Braddock manager Jody Rutherford. "We felt more confident once we started swinging a little bit the second time through the batting order."
Concorde All-District pitcher Williams dispatched the Bruin lineup without a hiccup heading into the fourth inning, but Oakton manager Scott Rowland noticed he was no longer on cruise control.
"He lost a little bit of velocity in the fourth inning," said Rowland, "The inning before he went full count with three hitters in a row, and I think that impacted the fourth inning."
The first six batters of the inning each reached base and eventually scored, forcing Williams out shortly after Tiamson's three-run homer over the center field fence made it 5-2.
"I thought it was just a long pop out," said Tiamson, "I was digging down the line ... but I just saw the outfielder hit the fence and it went over."
Ironically, his coach signaled him to do much the opposite.
"It was a situation that called for the bunt; a tie ball game with two guys in scoring position," said Rutherford, "but I have a lot of confidence with him. When he gets ahead of the count he can hit the ball just about as far as anyone on our team."
Senior Kevin Wager came in for relief, escaping the nightmare inning when his pick off throw to second would provide the third out. The William and Mary recruit pitched the final three innings, giving up one run in the the fourth and one in the sixth.
Oakton opened this affair like many others--with a lead off single by UVa-bound senior catcher Keith Werman.
"He's done that for years for me," said Rowland. "He scraps, he makes things happen for us, and that's just the type of player he is."
While Werman's final high school game ended with a loss, it began holding brighter fortunes, as he would score on an error in the first inning.
After a Connor Madden triple, Kevin Cortes would drive in Oakton's second run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Oakton eventually headed into their ill-fated bottom of the fourth up 2-0, but missed vital chances to add insurance.
"We let some opportunities slip away early in the game when we could've extended the lead," said Rowland. "If we'd extended the lead when we had the opportunities maybe things could've been different."
The Bruins wiped sweat from their collective brow after the rough early goings as well.
"We really dodged some bullets early on," said Rutherford. "They had the bases loaded, and they had the lead off hitter at third one inning and didn't score any runs out of it."
"We had a double play to get out of a bases loaded jam, had back to back innings where we had our backs up against the wall, and then we battled and (in the fourth) we came out swinging."
Brian Derner paced Lake Braddock with an excellent performance, going the distance scattering five hits while striking out eight batters.
Lake Braddock has clinched a spot in states, and will travel to Yorktown High School to play Chantilly on Friday in the Northern Region Championship at 7 p.m.
