V
VirginiaPreps
Guest
By Steve Yanda,
West Springfield senior right fielder Nick Stevens said he and his teammates wanted to prove Tuesday night in their Virginia AAA baseball quarterfinal against James River-Midlothian that they would not be intimidated by Rapids pitcher Nathan Kirby and that the Spartans were the better team.
But after James River finished off a 6-1 win over West Springfield (18-10), Stevens diagnosed that one goal had proven detrimental to the other. It was the Spartans’ aggressiveness at the plate that did them in. Fourteen of the 15 West Springfield batters that struck out Tuesday against Kirby did so swinging.
Kirby, a left-handed senior who claimed the state’s Gatorade player of the year honors this season and who has signed with the University of Virginia, gave up three hits and no walks. He hit one batter.
“We were definitely chasing his pitches,” said Stevens, who recorded two of the Spartans’ hits. “He had great stuff. Honestly, we tried to fight a little too much at the plate and were just chasing that curveball that he was commanding really well.”
Complete Report here
West Springfield senior right fielder Nick Stevens said he and his teammates wanted to prove Tuesday night in their Virginia AAA baseball quarterfinal against James River-Midlothian that they would not be intimidated by Rapids pitcher Nathan Kirby and that the Spartans were the better team.
But after James River finished off a 6-1 win over West Springfield (18-10), Stevens diagnosed that one goal had proven detrimental to the other. It was the Spartans’ aggressiveness at the plate that did them in. Fourteen of the 15 West Springfield batters that struck out Tuesday against Kirby did so swinging.
Kirby, a left-handed senior who claimed the state’s Gatorade player of the year honors this season and who has signed with the University of Virginia, gave up three hits and no walks. He hit one batter.
“We were definitely chasing his pitches,” said Stevens, who recorded two of the Spartans’ hits. “He had great stuff. Honestly, we tried to fight a little too much at the plate and were just chasing that curveball that he was commanding really well.”
Complete Report here
