South County Pulls Away Late for 12-8 Victory
VIENNA, VA - It appeared that Madison had things all sewn up. With a 5-1 lead going into the fifth inning against Jesse Beal, one of the most dominant pitchers in the area, Madison looked to be in good shape. They had their ace, Jesse Jeter, on the mound who was settling in nicely as he allowed just one run through four innings.
Then came South County.
Down 4-6 in the top of the 6th inning, shortstop Brent Frazier sparked what proved to be the decisive inning for the Stallions. With two men on, Frazier sent a towering blast past the left field fence to give his team the lead 7-6, one in which they did not relinquish.
Jeter, however, had been fairly stellar up to that point. Aside from an early run allowed in the opening inning, Jeter had settled in to allow just two hits in the next three innings. Meanwhile, the bats for Madison were getting hot. In the second inning, it was left fielder Andrew Schrock connecting on a two-run bomb to center field to give his team the lead at 2-1.
After Ted Williams and David Fathalkhani's back-to-back singles, they found themselves the beneficiaries of several costly errors by South County. A passed ball would allow Williams to score, and an error by Stallion third baseman Seth Jordan would allow Fathalkhani to come home while also putting Kyle McIntyre on base. McIntyre, much like his fellow baserunners earlier in the inning, reached home plate on a passed ball. In total, it was two passed balls, one error, and a deep home run that put Beal and the Stallions at a severe disadvantage, going down 5-1 in just the second inning.
The top of the 5th inning however, was when the South County bats came alive against Jeter. After surrendering an infield hit to Frazier, it was designated hitter John Fitzgerald connecting on a two-run homerun of his own. Just eclipsing the left field fence, Fitzgerald had inched his team closer to regaining the lead.
Then came the big inning for South County in the top of the 6th. After Frazier succeeded in giving his team the lead at 7-6, the Stallions proceeded to pour it on in the 7th. The rally started with a Jordan Cristoff walk, followed by a Kyle Michaels double. At that point, Madison's ace Jeter would be replaced by Matt Zepp.
Zepp, however, didn't fare any better against the red hot Stallion bats. After intentionally walking Frazier, Fitzgerald singled into right field to bring home two runners and give his team a commanding 9-6 lead. With runners on first and third, South County continued to pull away. This time it was Peyton Bartlett getting in on the fun with an RBI double of his own. Following a strikeout of Beal, which resulted in a few verbal exchanges, Jordan capped things off with another RBI single, this time bringing in two runs to make the score 12-6 South County.
Unfortunately for Madison, they could not muster up a comeback in the bottom half of the inning. After catcher Alex Jaquez connected on an RBI double to trim the deficit to 12-8, it was Schrock flying out to end the game and as well as Madison's season.
South County pitcher Beal, while surrendering eight runs on the night, did muster up an impressive 12 strikeouts on the night. Maybe more remarkable was his pitchcount as he finished the night with a staggering 116 pitches thrown through seven innings. Several major league scouts were on hand to watch the flame-thrower, who was consistently reaching 90 mph on his fastball.
South County, with the first round win, advances to play Chantilly in the Northern Region quarterfinals on Monday. Live coverage of that game will be brought to you by Gameday Magazine.
