Congrats to the 2013 state champs!
The chemistry this team had all season long, especially when it called for to win close games in the post season, was phenomenal. The Warriors rarely produced a beatdown after a ton of beatdowns during the regular season but they went 8-0 in the post season and won three state games by a combined five runs and won two regional games in walk-off fashion.
The pitching was outstanding, the defense splendid, and the clutch hitting was that of a state championship team. In all, a 26-1 season, the most wins ever produced by a Winchester-area team (one more than Handley put up during its championship run back in '99).
Maybe the stars aligned, who knows. Pepper Martin was in the third base coaching box when James Wood lost in '85 in the AAA final to J.R. Tucker out of Richmond at Bridgeforth Field. Martin was an assistant back then. It took Martin 28 years to get back to this big a game again, but there he was on Sunday, waving Taylor Loudan around with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Martin has been a head coach since '93 and he is now 12 wins away from reaching 300 for his career.
Sherando last had a losing season in 2001, its last season in AAA. The Warriors have been regular winners and expected entries each season in the regional playoffs. But before this season, the program had been to one state tournament.
But this group of seniors strived to not only get the program back to the state playoffs for the first time since 2004 but to go out and capture the whole enchilada to boot!
They got to Sunday, already the deepest a Sherando team had ever been, and got a 2-1 win against a program that had won the thing four previous times. They beat a baseball power. No cheap win, at all.
I stood and watched in amazement after the final out was recorded with a ground ball to senior Jacob Carney, clapping for the Warriors as a whole and the six seniors for their achievements. Then the dog pile followed. Pepper stumbling out of the dugout, but popping right back up as if he was demonstrating a move to one of his wrestlers (yes, he has coached and had success in that sport too for a long time), and just everyone, players and followers, basking in a warm, 85-degree day in the oven that is Radford Stadium, in winning a championship of the highest degree in state high school sports.
Five seniors were in the lineup yesterday and they all did their thing the right way. The way that leads to the ultimate of winning it all.
I thought it was really cool that the winning run was scored by a senior (Taylor Loudan), the game-winning hit produced by a senior (Jacob Carney) and the winning pitcher, going the distance to allow one run against a team that hung 20 on its quarterfinal round opponent, being a senior (John Bentley).
Jeb Brown (who produced a few key RBI singles in the semifinal win over Amherst) and Justin Angel (all-region first baseman), and backup third baseman Scottie Nicholson will also be missed when practice begins in March 2014 to defend this state title earned.
But this core group of seniors can walk proud. After 20 seasons of Sherando baseball, you helped produce that first state championship.
You protected the field.
This post was edited on 6/10 7:30 AM by 21base
The chemistry this team had all season long, especially when it called for to win close games in the post season, was phenomenal. The Warriors rarely produced a beatdown after a ton of beatdowns during the regular season but they went 8-0 in the post season and won three state games by a combined five runs and won two regional games in walk-off fashion.
The pitching was outstanding, the defense splendid, and the clutch hitting was that of a state championship team. In all, a 26-1 season, the most wins ever produced by a Winchester-area team (one more than Handley put up during its championship run back in '99).
Maybe the stars aligned, who knows. Pepper Martin was in the third base coaching box when James Wood lost in '85 in the AAA final to J.R. Tucker out of Richmond at Bridgeforth Field. Martin was an assistant back then. It took Martin 28 years to get back to this big a game again, but there he was on Sunday, waving Taylor Loudan around with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Martin has been a head coach since '93 and he is now 12 wins away from reaching 300 for his career.
Sherando last had a losing season in 2001, its last season in AAA. The Warriors have been regular winners and expected entries each season in the regional playoffs. But before this season, the program had been to one state tournament.
But this group of seniors strived to not only get the program back to the state playoffs for the first time since 2004 but to go out and capture the whole enchilada to boot!
They got to Sunday, already the deepest a Sherando team had ever been, and got a 2-1 win against a program that had won the thing four previous times. They beat a baseball power. No cheap win, at all.
I stood and watched in amazement after the final out was recorded with a ground ball to senior Jacob Carney, clapping for the Warriors as a whole and the six seniors for their achievements. Then the dog pile followed. Pepper stumbling out of the dugout, but popping right back up as if he was demonstrating a move to one of his wrestlers (yes, he has coached and had success in that sport too for a long time), and just everyone, players and followers, basking in a warm, 85-degree day in the oven that is Radford Stadium, in winning a championship of the highest degree in state high school sports.
Five seniors were in the lineup yesterday and they all did their thing the right way. The way that leads to the ultimate of winning it all.
I thought it was really cool that the winning run was scored by a senior (Taylor Loudan), the game-winning hit produced by a senior (Jacob Carney) and the winning pitcher, going the distance to allow one run against a team that hung 20 on its quarterfinal round opponent, being a senior (John Bentley).
Jeb Brown (who produced a few key RBI singles in the semifinal win over Amherst) and Justin Angel (all-region first baseman), and backup third baseman Scottie Nicholson will also be missed when practice begins in March 2014 to defend this state title earned.
But this core group of seniors can walk proud. After 20 seasons of Sherando baseball, you helped produce that first state championship.
You protected the field.
This post was edited on 6/10 7:30 AM by 21base
