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'Salt in the wound'
After 20 games of dominance that lifted Lake Braddock's baseball team into last Friday's Virginia AAA state semifinal game against Colonial Forge, the Bruins stumbled and felt that inevitable, gut-wrenching feeling that comes with losing a game that very easily could've been won.With ace left-hander Brian Derner trying to preserve a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, Colonial Forge rallied for three quick runs and held the Bruins scoreless in the seventh, handing Lake Braddock a heartbreaking 7-6 defeat -- its first in two months.
“That's not the way we wanted to go out,” said senior left fielder Shannon Mark, who finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. “They hit the ball pretty well in that last inning and they scored a couple of runs.”
Hitting has been Lake Braddock's trademark all season. In 27 games, the Bruins totaled 255 runs -- an average of 9.44 per game. Furthermore, the Bruins scored an average of 10.95 runs per game during the 20-game streak.
Therefore, when Colonial Forge tacked on two runs in each of the first two frames, it was only a matter of time before the Bruins would answer back.
That answer came in the top of the fourth inning when Jordan Tiamson crushed a leadoff double to right. It started to look even more plausible when Brenden Daley followed with an RBI-single, and table was finally set later -- with two outs -- when Ryan Lindemuth, Shane Halley (Virginia) and Mark (Christopher Newport) all drew walks.
With Lake Braddock having cut the deficit to two, Steven Lindemuth (2-for-3, 3 RBIs) provided what initially appeared to be the game-changing at-bat, lacing a three-run double to right field that pushed the Bruins ahead, 5-4.
Along with a prolific offense, patience has been a virtue for coach Jody Rutherford's team. Whether it involved a hitter maneuvering himself into a favorable count, or hitting an outside pitch to the opposite field, you'd have a tough time finding a more patient high school baseball team than Lake Braddock.
It's also why Rutherford knows one when he sees one.
“[Colonial Forge] did a great job battling some at-bats,” said Rutherford, whose group finished the year at 23-4. Some of those walks were just good at-bats.”
Daley (2-for-3, RBI, 2 runs scored) homered to left in the fifth to add insurance, but after inducing a groundout to start the sixth, Derner allowed a double to Colonial Forge's Nich Lanciault. The two crucial walks followed, and Shayne Paskanik grounded out to score a run.
But the tide-turning moment was next. Taylor Guinn stepped to the plate and worked Derner to a full count. With two runners in scoring position, Guinn tapped a shot up the middle, barely missing Derner's mitt. Two runs scored.
“Swept right out from underneath us,” said Shane Halley, who walked and scored during the fourth-inning rally. “Like salt in the wound.”
The Bruins conquered nearly all they could this season, winning the Patriot District tournament as its top-seeded squad, and topping Chantilly, 9-6, to win the school's sixth Northern Region title.
But little could ease the sting of such an emotional loss.
“Not much you can say to make that thing feel better,” Rutherford said. “I was pleased with how hard they played all year. They played with heart.
“They showed a lot of class as well, and there's nothing really I could say that would make that better.”
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