It’s been a back-and-forth start for William Monroe in its out of district play, but with a 15-3 win over rival Madison County on Tuesday the Dragons strung their first back-to-back wins following up on a 6-0 win over Spotsylvania on Saturday.
“We swang the bat really well tonight and that’s big, we’ve needed that in our losses,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “We were really aggressive on the base paths and happy to see that, hopefully all of that breaks us out of the slumps we’ve had recently at the plate.”
The Dragons had 11 hits on the night including a 4-for-5 showing from Alex Kinsey to lead the way offensively as Monroe rallied for four runs in the second and eight in the fifth.
“All week we practiced so much on our hitting, all week,” Kinsey said. “I guess it just worked out for us because tonight that’s all we did, we hit.”
The game started with both teams plating a run in the first. Kinsey came up with a 1-out triple in his first at bat and was later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jonathan Sexton. Madison responded with a single from Hugh Windgate, a walk and then an RBI single to center from Corey Helmick to even it up at 1-1.
Monroe came back in the top of the first and plated four runners, the first of which came with Kinsey delivery a 1-out RBI single after a pair of walks. Both and Hunter Powell — who also had a busy day offensively — were able to make it 4–1 when they both scored from third on a wild pitches. Reilly Owens was able to score from third after he drew a walk, got worked around the bases and scored from third on another wild pitch to inflate it 5-1.
The Dragons picked up two runs in the third with Braydon Collier single and a bunt from Lance Tate and induced an error. Powell came up with a sacrifice fly in the next at bat to make the lead 7-1.
The big 8-run rally in the fifth saw six runners cross the plate with nobody out. Powell had an RBI triple, Kinsey an RBI single, Owen an RBI double, Blake Shifflett drawing a bases loaded walk and Hayeden Gibson coming up with an RBI single. Monroe plated the final two of their runs with a bases loaded walk to Tate and Powell hitting another sacrifice fly.
“We’ve pitched well so far this year, the defense has been good, it’s just been getting the hitting going,” Maynard said. “So we’re hoping this springboards us to something hot here.”
Needing to trim the lead to nine with at least five runs scored to keep things going, Madison came to the plate in the fifth and was able to get two of them. Another single from Windgate and a then a walk set the table from William Graves who drove a ball to right field for a 2-run single with two outs. However, Monroe was able to get a strikeout to close out the game early.
“It’s our first big win of the year so having that come against your rival, that means a lot to the six seniors,” Kinsey said.
Kinsey’s 4-for-5 showing with three runs and two RBI led the offense but Powell put together an impressive 1-for-2 line with a walk, two runs scored and four RBI. Owen was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks and also the winning pitcher, going four innings while surrendering just two hits, two walks and striking out eight batters.
For Madison, Windgate was 2-for-2 with a walk. Graves and Helmick were each 1-for-3.
Monroe faces Manassas Park on the road Wednesday while Madison has a road trip to Central Woodstock on Friday.