Buckley's Grand Slam Leads Bruins To Semis
(VIENNA, VA)--It started on Tuesday evening and finally came to an end on Thursday afternoon. The game between the Lake Braddock Bruins and Indian River Braves fell victim to two separate rain delays; the first coming on Tuesday in the bottom of the 4th inning with the Bruins leading 6-3. Indian River then trekked back to the Chesapeake area after the game was called. The Braves made another return trip on Wednesday for a scheduled 4pm start; however, Mother Nature would not cooperate again and the game was pushed back another day and a completely different field. The teams finally resumed play at 1pm on Thursday at Waters Field in Vienna.
Lake Braddock was the host for the game on Tuesday evening to open the VHSL AAA Baseball Tournament. It was also the first trip for the Indian River Braves into the state tournament in the 39-year history of the school. Brian Derner cruised through the top of the first, retiring the Braves in order. Indian River starter Dean Ali was unable to duplicate Derner's success in the home half of the first. The Bruins first two batter reached base via walks and then Shannon Mark lined a single into the outfield to load the bases. Ryan Lindemuth was forced out at home on his brother Steven's infield grounder. Jim Buckley then walked to the plate looking to help Lake Braddock get on the board, and he did that in a big way. Buckley ripped a pitch from Ali over the left field fence that nearly landed on Burke Lake Road beyond the fence. The grand slam gave the Bruins a quick 4-0 lead in just the first inning.
The two teams quickly moved through the second and most of the third, until Ryan Buckrop plated two more Bruin runs with a single in the bottom half of the 3rd inning. The score stood at 6-0 in favor of the home team when the first stint of rain came that delayed the game more than 20 minutes. After the delay Derner re-took the mound for Lake Braddock, but was not the same pitcher who had retired 9 of 11 Braves he had faced through 3 innings. Derner walked Dean Ali and Justin Shockley with 1 out in the top of the 4th. David Clary was the next Brave to the plate and with one simple swing, Clary was able to cut the Bruin lead in half with a 3-run homer of his own over the left field fence. Derner settled down and got out of the inning without anymore damage. In the home half of the 4th Kenny Towns struck out and then Ryan Lindemuth had a 1 ball and 1 strike count when the skies opened up. Both teams waited in their dugouts for over an hour until finally the powers that be decided to move the ballgame until the following afternoon.
Indian River made the return trip back to Burke, but could not play again due to lots of rain and wind, which moved the game yet another time to Thursday. The field at Lake Braddock would not be playable and the decision was made to use Waters Field in Vienna, just a few minutes away from Lake Braddock.
The teams showed up at the synthetic field that was in great shape, even after all the rain that occurred Wednesday night. The game resumed and the Bruins took over where they had left off Tuesday night. Shane Halley drilled a double into right field that plated Ryan Lindemuth, who had walked to start the afternoon. Immediately after Halley's RBI, Shannon Mark stepped into the box and drilled a Matt Dickason pitch over the right field fence for the Bruins 3rd run of the inning. After 4 complete innings the Bruins held a 9-3 lead over Indian River. The Braves were simply unable to come up with any offense to end the ballgame. Another big hit from Halley in the bottom half of the 6th gave the Bruins their final run of the game as it sailed over the center field scoreboard on yet another homerun for Lake Braddock. Halley would finish the game with 2 RBI's and 3 runs scored.
With the win Lake Braddock advanced in the AAA State Tournament to play Colonial Forge in one half of the semifinals to be played at Westfield High School at 7pm Friday night. In the other half James River will take on the Bethel Bruins at 3pm at the same location. Check out www.GamedayMagazine.com for both games starting at 2:30pm Friday afternoon.
CHICK-FIL-A PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jim Buckley, 1B, Lake Braddock; Buckley's grand slam on Tuesday night proved to be the game winning hit, as the Bruins topped the Braves 10-3. Buckley has been one of the hottest hitters in the Lake Braddock lineup in postseason, and head coach Jody Rutherford will look to Buckley to help the Bruins advance further in the state tournament.
