Panthers Complete Sweep Of Dulles With 4-2 Win
The Panthers completed their dominance in the Dulles District by sweeping through the tournament, culminating with a 4-2 final over rival Broad Run.
Photo By: Marc Le Maitre / Gameday Magazine
LEESBURG, VA - With one swing of the bat from Ryan Miller, the Potomac Falls Panthers remained undefeated through the Dulles District and added the tournament championship to their regular season title, Thursday night at Heritage High School. Miller's 2 run home run in the 3rd inning was the difference as the Panthers defeated the Spartans, for the 3rd time this season, to claim the tournament trophy. The Panthers got a complete game from Eric Dimsey, who only gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, and silenced the Spartan hitters after the 4th inning recording 5 strikeouts.
Potomac Falls entered this game after a grueling 1-0 eight inning game over Dominion on Tuesday. The Panthers scored in the 1st inning when Ryan Mahoney reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on Rob Malan's single to left. Mahoney then moved to third on Mike Spring's fielder's choice and with 2 outs, Ryan Miller hit a shot to short that Chris Jessop could not handle for an error scoring Mahoney.
Broad Run came right back in the 2nd scoring 2 runs to take the lead. Zach Rawson led off with a single up the middle. Dimsey then struck out Conor Jessop and got Tyler Small on a flyout to short before walking Chase Warren. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Andrew Hathaway delivered with a drive to center field to score Rawson. Warren advanced to 3rd on the play and trotted home on Shane Vlasic's single to right.
The Panthers then tied it up in the bottom of the inning when Matt Hoover led off with a double to left field. He was bunted to 3rd by Dimsey and scored on Chad McMichael's ground out to short.
With the score tied at 2 in the 3rd, Mahoney singled for the Panthers and was erased at 2nd on Malan's bunt to the pitcher. Malan then stole 2nd before Mike Spring grounded out to short. With 2 outs, Ryan Miller then stepped to the plate and drove a Chase Warren 2-0 fastball deep over the left field fence to give Potomac Falls the lead that they would never relinquish.
With a 4-2 lead, Dimsey got stronger as the game went on and only allowed 1 base runner after the 3rd inning. In the 7th inning, Dimsey struck out the first two batters before facing Hathaway. After battling to a 2-2, Hathaway hit a ground ball to Ben Sweger at 2nd who flipped to Miller at 1st and the Panthers started their second celebration of the year on the pitcher's mound with Dimsey at the bottom of the pile.
The Panthers will now have a few days off as they have a bye in the 1st round of the Region II playoffs and will host a semifinal game at Panther Park on Wednesday May 27th at 6:00. The Spartans will travel to Sherando on Memorial Day for their quarterfinal Game.
A complete collection of game photos will be available soon. Check back for game action shots, and a link to the complete photo gallery...
