By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
A two-run homer from D.G. Archer and a pair of sacrifice flies helped Albemarle rally from a 3-1 deficit and upset Jefferson District leading-Western Albemarle 5-3 on Friday night in Crozet.
“We were just trying to hang in as long as we could so hopefully at the end we’d be there,” said Albemarle coach Jimmy Bibb. “D.G.’s getting hot at the right time, and really all our kids are. The last two or three games, our kids have played great baseball.”
Sophomore Aaron Leathers got the start for the Patriots and offered a steady diet of curve balls and off-speed deliveries. After the Warriors plated two in the first thanks to a fielding error and walk before three singles, Leathers allowed just two hits over the next three innings. He stranded six Warriors cap Western’s early lead at two.
“I was trying to keep the ball low in the zone, force contact, and have faith in my fielders,” said Leathers. “They got the job done for me. I knew the bats would come around eventually.”
Freshman Andrew Porter led off the fourth inning with a single. Three batters later, at the top of the order with two out, Archer hammered a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to even the game 3-3. It was Archer’s third hit of the night after leading off the game with a double and singling in the second.
“I’ve been a little unselective so far this year, so I just tried to wait back for a pitch I could hit,” said Archer, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. With a chance to hit for the cycle in the sixth, he launched a fly ball to deep right-center, but Henry Kreienbaum was able to corral it.
Western’s freshman southpaw Derek Domecq was solid in six-plus innings, striking out five. However, his lead turned the other way in the fifth. With one down, junior Jacob Nash singled and advanced on a wild pitch. Kaleb Campbell singled to move Nash to third, and the Patriots manufactured their fourth run on Ryan Porter’s sac fly. Domecq exited after Nash singled for the third time to lead off the seventh. More Albemarle small ball collected the insurance run, this time capped by an Andrew Porter sac fly.
“I thought [Derek] battled and did the things we needed him to do,” said Hudgins. “He gave us a chance to win, but we didn’t do enough offensively. We didn’t swing the bat very well, and I give them a lot of credit. Up and down their lineup, they put the ball in play.”
For the Patriots, senior Connor Porco closed the door with his third inning of work after coming in to the mound from center field to relieve Leathers to start the fifth. With the top of Western’s order due up in the bottom of the seventh and a two-run margin, he allowed his first hit on a leadoff single to Steve Mangrum. He next nearly induced his second double-play ball on a grounder to second, but senior Chris Hughes beat the throw to first. With two out, senior Harrison Lund singled and an error retrieving the ball in left allowed runners to advance to second and third. Porco induced and fielded a soft grounder from Domecq to the third base side of the mound to seal the Patriots’ upset.
“They have a lot of good hitters, so I tried to get as many ground balls as I could,” Porco said. “I mixed in some off-speed with a lot of fastballs, keeping it low in the zone.”
Western (15-3) heads to Monticello for another District showdown on Tuesday night, while Albemarle (9-10) hosts Louisa County to wrap the regular season.
