It took the current crop of Goochland baseball players a few years to break down the door and get a shot at the state final four.
With all that struggle behind them, the Bulldogs weren’t going to go away easily Friday against Virginia High in the Group 2A state semifinals in Salem.
After falling into a one-run hole in the fifth inning, Goochland collected itself and promptly ripped off nine runs in the top of the sixth inning and held on for an 11-4 victory over the Bearcats. The victory lifts the Bulldogs into the state final Saturday at 1 p.m. at Radford. They’ll face the Maggie Walker squad that beat Goochland in the Region 2A East final in a weather-shortened contest.
Goochland’s bats got going in the sixth and Virginia High helped the Bulldogs out with a trio of errors in the frame that ended up blowing open the game. Down 3-2 entering the sixth, Goochland simply bore down and got the job done.
Andrew Harcum posted a 2-for-3 night while No. 9 hitter Frank Mayosky went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Scott Carter went 2-for-5 while knocking in a run.
The Bulldogs got a solid performance from Coleman Duty on the mound as he allowed just four hits over the first five innings. Mayosky and Nic Norman closed the door on the Bearcats with Mayosky allowing one run in the sixth while Norman threw a scoreless seventh that included a pair of strikeouts.
Goochland will face Maggie Walker in the state final at 1 p.m. at Radford.
