Small's Grand Slam Lifts Spartans Past Falcons
The Broad Run Spartans rallied twice to beat Briar Woods 7-3 on Friday evening. The Spartans advanced to the second round of the Dulles District tournament with the win.
Photo By: Jan Johnson / GamedayMagazine.com | VIEW GALLERY
Broad Run's Ryan Johnston connects on a home run in Friday's game against Briar Woods. The Spartans won 7-3 to advance to the next round of the Dulles District baseball tournament.
Photo By: Jan Johnson / GamedayMagazine.com | VIEW GALLERY
Briar Woods pitcher Ian Hickman pitched well on Friday, but Broad Run was able to connect on two important hits that proved to be the difference in the game.
Photo By: Jan Johnson / GamedayMagazine.com | VIEW GALLERY
ASHBURN, VA - In opening round action in the Dulles District baseball tournament Friday, the Briar Woods Falcons made the short trip across Ashburn to do battle with a team that had "handled" them in each of the previous two meetings, the Broad Run Spartans.
But no matter how these Falcons fared before, this night was the start of the "2nd Season," and they looked to upset the Dulles seedings, by exacting a bit of redemption on their season, if not also a bit of revenge against their cross-town rivals. Although the final score would read 7-3 in favor of, once again, the Spartans, it took an extra frame, and the emergence of an unlikely hero to do so for the Spartans.
The two teams couldn't get much going through the 1st three innings, and the Falcons would plate the 1st two runs of the game in the top of the 4th. Junior RF Kyle Haufler led things off with an infield single off starting pitcher, Chase Warren.
CF Gavin Scherer followed with a slow roller of his own down the 3rd base line, that freshman Connor Jessop came up with and made an impressive play to get the out at 1B, allowing Haufler to advance safely to 2B. Senior SS Chris Wade got the game's 1st RBI, with a double off the right-center field fence, scoring Haufler, and advancing to 3rd on the play at the plate.
Senior P Ian Hickman then lifted a deep sacrifice fly to score Wade, and that's all the Falcons would muster in the stanza.Broad Run had an answer, however, in their half of the 4th inning. After one out, Zach Rawson and Connor Jessop hit back-to-back singles, with Junior Chris Lane following with a base hit of his own to plate Rawson from 2nd. But that's all the Spartans would tally, and the inning would end with Briar Woods gaining the 2-1 advantage.
After a scoreless 5th for both teams, and a goose egg in the 6th for the Falcons, Broad Run would come alive again. Senior Patrick Murphy stung Hickman for a leadoff double to center field to start things off, and immediately advanced to 3rd after a misplayed run-down attempt, after Murphy briefly appeared to be caught too far between 2nd and 3rd.
The home crowd suddenly got back in the game, when senior Chris Jessop helped get Murphy to the plate on a sacrifice fly to left. Rawson followed with his 3rd hit of the game, but would be left stranded at 2nd base when Hickman would induce a ground out and fly out to end the inning, with the score knotted at 2.
Both teams would go three-up, three-down in the 7th inning, and the fans would get extra baseball, as the game moved into an extra frame.
With Taylor Clarke, the 3rd Spartan hurler of the night, on in relief, Briar Woods seemed to let the air out of the Spartan's dreams of getting to the next round of the tournament, as they were able get a run across to take the lead in the top of the 8th. Clarke was able to record the 1st out of the inning with a leadoff strikeout. But sophomore LF Victor Rizzardi quickly quelled the home crowd's good mood.
After a sharp single through the left side of the infield, Rizzardi hastily stole 2nd base, inducing Broad Run head coach Pat Cassidy to call for the intentional walk of Haufler to put force plays at either bag. Not to be outdone, Briar Woods head coach Josh Mosser immediately put on the double steal, and both runners were safe at 2nd and 3rd when catcher Ryan Johnston was unable to handle the pitch in the dirt cleanly.
Again, coach Cassidy gave the intentional free pass to Scherer to load the bases, again setting up force plays all around. But the plan failed as Rizzardi was able to scamper home on a passed ball on the very next pitch, putting the Falcons up 3-2. Clarke ended any further damage by recording another strikeout, and getting Hickman to fly out to deep left field.
With the Spartans' season now on the line, it would be up to Ryan Johnston to try and get things going for his team in the bottom of the inning. And get things started he did! On a 0-balls, 2-strike count, Johnston got a fastball at the belt, and he stroked a monstrous home run over the left field fence to tie the game at 3, and bring life back into his team. Patrick Murphy followed with a sharp single to left field, and stole 2nd base on the 1st pitch to Chris Jessop. Jessop then induced a 4-pitch walk. Coach Cassidy then dipped into his bag of tricks, and quickly called for the double steal, and both runners would be safe when the pitch just squeaked by catcher Logan Harris.
With 1st base now open, coach Mosser was forced to issue the intentional walk to the hot hitting Rawson, and the sacks were now packed with Spartans, with nobody out, and the game winning run 90 feet away. With the infield drawn in, and all three outfielders forced to play shallow to cut-off a possible bloop single, Hickman would get the next batter to strike out for the 1st out of the inning.
This would bring up junior Tyler Small in a pinch-hitting role. After seeing the 1st two pitches, Small was looking for a fastball, and he got it....belt high...and he took advantage, driving the ball over the left field fence for the game winning, walk-off grand-slam. The final: Broad Run 7, and Briar Woods 3.
The loss ended the season for the Falcons, who finished the year 9-10 overall, 6-8 in Dulles District play. Broad Run will now advance to play Loudoun County, a 6-5 winner in their opening round game over Heritage on Friday. That game will be at Spartan Stadium on Tuesday, first pitch slated for 7:00pm.
