Monarchs Crowned Kings Of VA AAA Baseball
The Menchville Monarchs pounded out 10 hits in Sunday's state baseball championship game, plating 5 runs in the 1st inning, and soundly defeated the Hanover Hawks 7-1.
Photo By Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
Menchville first baseman Hunter Lewis saved his best for his last game, belting his 1st home run of the season in Sunday's state baseball championship game. The Monarchs scored five times in the 1st inning.
Photo By Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
Pitcher Ethan Carter went the distance on Sunday for the Monarchs, and hurled 6 shut-out innings to hold the Hanover Hawks at bay.
Photo By Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
CHANTILLY, VA - It took plenty of time and plenty of miles on a bus for Menchville to reach the Virginia AAA baseball state final on Sunday afternoon at Westfield High School. However, once the Monarchs reached their destination, it took only 30 minutes and some live bats for them to quickly put away the competitive phase of the title tilt with Hanover. A five-run first inning, and a complete game pitching effort from Ethan Carter, propelled Menchville (26-2) to a 7-1 win and a championship.
Once the last Hawks' hope, Austin Erb, missed on a full count pitch, Carter dropped to his knees and his teammates, both on the field and from the dugout, rushed to start a mosh pit on the mound. Monarchs head coach Phil Forbes was eventually given a cold Gatorade bath. He could finally soak it all in, leading his club to its first state title and the first baseball championship for the Peninsula District.
"It was a total team effort," Forbes said. "I love these guys. They worked so hard and they're a bunch of great young men."
The top of the first inning couldn't have been better for the Monarchs. With one out, 1B Hunter Lewis belted a solo home run - his first of the season. That was just the first of seven consecutive Monarch hitters to reach base. A triple by senior Jharel Cotton plated two, while junior Teddy Brewer's single brought home the inning's fifth run. In all, ten men came to the plate and starting pitcher Tyler Kane was pulled after only recording one out. "That was important because we got the momentum," Devorn Lake said. "And we just kept going from there."
The offensive outburst gave Carter an early cushion to work with. However, it's something he's been used to. "We've been doing it all year," he said. "Coming out for the first inning with a five-run lead isn't too bad." Hanover, who scored 255 runs over the course of the season themselves, couldn't put together a response. Carter held the potent Hawks squad to just six hits over the course of the seven innings. The only run he allowed came in the final frame, as Jake Mayers reached on an error, enabling Beau Flinchum to score.
Normally a strikeout pitcher, Carter only fanned six. Many of his outs...14, in fact...came on ground balls. "We put balls in play and they made plays," said Hanover head coach Charlie Dragum. Conversely, Menchville made productive contact. They tacked on one run in the second and fourth, respectively.
Clean-up hitter Lake went 4-for-4, while Cotton had a 3-for-4 afternoon, driving in three runs. Both offense and defense denied the Hawks a shot at a first state championship.
"When you get behind five early, it's hard to come back," Dragum said. "We thought, with our offense, we could come back. But credit to those guys, they didn't let us back into the game."
Menchville's road to the title was anything but ordinary. The Monarchs' Tuesday quarterfinal game at Stafford...a 252 mile round trip journey...was postponed. They returned home that night and had to make the trip to Fredericksburg once again for the make-up on Wednesday. After six innings and a 4-4 tie, rain forced yet another delay. The next day, it rained again, and the wet conditions and continued forecasted bad weather for Friday left uncertainty as to when and where the game would resume. It eventually would be settled on Saturday afternoon, at Westfield's Spring Jubilee site - the same day as a potential semifinal. The Monarchs eventually defeated Stafford 6-4, then 2 hours later took down West Springfield by a count of 6-5, in a last inning nail-biter.
Shortly after the warm glow of victory set in, Forbes knew it was all worth it. There's still one more bus ride to be made. The good news for them is that there's no game ahead. Just celebration. "We're going to enjoy Interstate 95 like we did all week," Forbes said.
