Monticello baseball picked up its third straight road victory, and its second of the week in Palmyra, with an 18-8 onslaught in five innings to advance in the Conference 29 bracket.
“We know that to advance in the playoffs, we’re going to have to beat good teams, and we did that tonight with a quality approach,” said Monticello coach Corey Hunt, as his offense generated 13 hits, including five extra-base hits, and drew four walks on the night.
The Mustangs sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the first, six of whom crossed to outpace the offense’s four runs from the entirely of Monday evening’s contest. After Fluvanna County starter Noah Brown issued a leadoff walk, the Mustangs’ bats started connecting in a big way. Kevin Jarrell was first with a triple to left.
“I wanted to go up there with a good approach,” said Jarrell, who worked a full count before pulling the ball deep over the fielder’s head. “I just wanted to put a good swing on it.”
Senior Ben Riley followed with a double to deep right-center. Senior Reid Huffman delivered an RBI single through the left side, followed up by a single to right from Jake Byrnes. After senior catcher Will Pistulka’s sacrifice to the third base side of the mound triggered a throwing error that allowed him to reach second and a fourth run to score, the Flucos turned to junior lefty Shaun Holyfield. He struck out the Mustangs’ seventh batter for the first out of the frame, but then a grounder to second invited a throwing error in an attempt to cut down a runner. With two more runs crossing, Monticello handed Byrnes, their starter, a 6-0 lead.
The senior right-hander got off to a smooth start with a strikeout and a walk but no hits allowed in the first. He quickly recorded two outs around a walk in the second; however, Fluvanna mounted a rally thanks to another walk followed by a two-RBI double to the wall in left from number-nine hitter Cameron Shields. He scored on Dashon Carter’s single, but then a successful pick-off ended the second inning with Monticello’s lead halved at 6-3.
“At some point, they’re going to face adversity,” said Hunt. “We came back in the dugout and swung the bat again and tried to get the momentum back on our side.”
The Mustangs promptly got the offense going again in the third as the bottom part of the order came though with a pair of singles and had runners on the corners with two out when leadoff man Tyler Walker lined a single to left-center. Jarrell walked to load the bases before Riley came through with his second extra-base hit. He delivered a triple the other way to the corner in right field, clearing the bases. An errant throw through the infield allowed him to score as well, putting Monticello ahead 11-3.
Fluvanna wasn’t done, though. Senior Colby DeForge singled to center with one out and freshman Jacob Critzer then drew Byrnes’s fourth walk. Sophomore Ryan Groome doubled to left for an RBI, and Kevin Ward plated Critzer with a sac fly to center. The rally continued with back-to-back singles from Holyfield and sophomore Kyle Algieri to add another run, bringing Hunt out to summon Jarrell to the mound from center field.
“Our staff is not going to try and strikeout people, they’re going to play to our defense,” said Hunt. “They put a few good swings on it. That’s a very good team that we beat tonight, and keeping them off the scoreboard was probably not in cards for us.”
Jarrell induced a grounder to second from the number-nine batter to end the third inning with Monticello ahead, though not entirely comfortable, 11-6.
Monticello manufactured a run in the fourth via error, sacrifice, and wild pitch. Holyfield completed his four innings of work with his fourth strikeout. In the bottom half, Jarrell faced the top of the Flucos’ order with little trouble.
The same would not go for Fluvanna in the fifth as Ward took the mound. He plunked Walker before Jarrell singled through the left side. Riley flied out to left-center where the shortstop, Shields, had ventured, but the heart of the order continued making contact. Huffman plated two with a single to the right of second base. Byrnes picked up an RBI with Monticello’s third triple of the game, this one to the wall in right. Pistulka drove him home with a single up the middle. After a strikeout was foiled by a passed ball that allowed another run in from third, Algieri got the call to pitch. Dylan Booth tallied an RBI with a double to right that wrapped Monticello’s scoring, with six more runs added to open a twelve-run margin.
“If pitching’s an art form, I would say we were using crayons tonight,” said Fluvanna coach Mike Sheridan. “It’s unfortunate because most of our pitchers have pitched really well. Long season and I’m thinking we got worn down a little bit.”
Fluvanna made a run at extending the game as Josh Carlton reached on a throwing error after a dropped strikeout and Logan Gibson drew a walk. Shields singled to load the bases with two outs before Dashon Carter singled to center and two scored. However, Monticello preserved the 10-run slaughter with an unassisted force at third base on the next ground ball.
“Coming in, if you’d have told me we’d score eight runs and lose, we haven’t been like that all season,” Sheridan said with a shrug, as a young Fluvanna roster ended their 2017 campaign with a 10-11 record.
Carter and Shields each had a pair of hits and two RBI to lead the Flucos. Meanwhile, batters two through six in Monticello’s order each had two hits, with Riley tallying a game-high four RBI and Huffman knocking in three. On the mound, Jarrell went the final two and a third and allowed two runs on two hits.
Monticello (9-12), seeded fifth, advances to take on top seed Turner Ashby (17-2) in a conference semifinal on Tuesday.
