Western Albemarle baseball coach Skip Hudgins said on Tuesday after the Warriors fell in the Conference 29 semifinals to a top-notch Turner Ashby team that Western wasn’t prepared to be done yet.
“One of the things we strive to do every year is be significantly better at the end than we were at the start and we’ve done that,” Hudgins said. “We’re not ready to quit playing right now.”
Thanks to a no-hitter by Derek Domecq and a 3-0 victory over Fluvanna in the Conference 29 consolation game, Western doesn’t have to stop. The Warriors earned a berth in the Region 3A West tournament with the victory.
Domecq threw the no-hitter while giving up just one walk and striking out eight in the win. The Warriors allowed just one runner in scoring position the entire game.
Domecq worked with a three-run advantage most of the game after the Warriors scored all three of their runs in the second inning. Domecq singled home Luke Tenuta for the first run of that frame and Matt Mandell knocked in another before Sam James scored on an error.
Domecq went 2-for-2 on the night while James posted two hits.
Jake Fulk threw 4.2 innings for the Flucos, with sophomore Trent Campbell closing the game with 1.2 scoreless innings of work.
Western will play in the region tournament Monday, time and opponent to be determined.
