If ever there was a game about base running and errors — high school baseball in March — this was it. In the bottom of the third, Woodberry Forest saw two runs come off the board because of a miscue, one that would have put them up three runs. Instead, the Tigers went into the top of the seventh up a run and saw Miller start out with some calculated small ball to tie and take the lead before the Mavericks offense finally came alive with some clutch hitting to turn what was a very close game into a decided 8-3 win.
“This has to be the motto — we have to be smart base runners and take advantage of every opportunity, every error and miscue,” said Miller coach Billy Wagner. “We’re not a team right now that comes out and beats you to death but we’ve got guys that can do some damage. But it’s when we take advantage of the ball in the dirt, make a good read, that’s what allows us to become a better team.”
Down 3-2 with just three outs to play with, Miller got a lead off walk from Jackson Barrett. Will Wagner then executed a sacrifice bunt to the third baseline that allowed Barrett to not only get to second, but also take an unoccupied third. Then after Tanner Morris reached on a walk, the Mavericks put on a double steal from first and third that drew an unsuccessful throw to second that allowed Barrett to score.
“That all comes down to execution, trusting yourself,” Wagner said. “(Our athletes) they we were able to do it. We practice it and you can do that a thousand times but when it comes to the game it’s different and those two plays were huge for us. We read it well.”
Morris then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Ethan Murray then scored on an RBI strikeout in the dirt. And then Miller started to hit. Back-to-back singles from Jacob Gavin and Johnny Wood set up a triple from Alexander Respeto and suddenly it was 8-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
“We brought an energy that we didn’t have earlier in the game,” Morris said. “It’s still early in the season so we’re really working on everything, the hitting, pitching and the defense. Hopefully we’ll keep progressing and get to where we want to be, where we know we can be.”
Woodberry got a solid start but a no-decision from Patrick McDonald who left the game after six innings with his team up 3-2. McDonald struck out 10 batters and only gave up two runs, both coming in the first.
“They came out and set the tone after we boot a couple of balls but Patrick came back and he’s a four-year starter, we knew what we’d get from him on the hill,” said Woodberry coach Chris Holmes. “He came out and threw hard. He was throwing well and was on an 80-pitch count that we thought would only give us five innings, but he gave us six.”
Miller took the 2-0 lead in the first with Will Wagner reaching on an error, Morris bringing in Wagner when he reached on an error and then Murray brining home Morris on a strikeout in the dirt.
The Tigers answered with Jake Cooper reaching on an error to leadoff the bottom of the second. He scored on an RBI single from John Harris. Then in the third, Woodberry took the lead in a wild inning. A 1-out McDonald single followed by Calder Clay reaching on an error tied the game up. Then another error allowed Clay to score and make it 3-2. The craziness to finish the third started with a single from Harris. That 2-out play ended in confusion as a pair of Tigers’ runners met at third base, and while both scored, it was ruled that the lead runner was out, negating both runs and getting the Mavericks out of the jam further unscathed, down 3-2 instead of 5-2.
“It was a blunder but one I thought the umpires missed but at the end of the day you tell your kids that (Miller) is as good a team as you’re going to see and you hung with them for six innings,” Holmes said. “The thing is we’re young, a bit inexperienced being in that kind of situation and once we got the lead we got fat-headed. We had great at-bats early and even when we didn’t get a lot out of it. But once we got the lead we’re swinging at pitches above our head and all of the sudden those go to waste.”
Just like McDonald, Miller starter Connor Gillispie left the game for Miller with the no-decision after he also reached his early season pitch count. The senior ace gave up no earned runs and struck out seven batters. Respeto picked up the win in relief.
“We did not help Connor out at all on defense but he got some really big outs,” Wagner said. “He really stepped up and I’m sure he’s not happy with the result, but for his second outing he should be. I’m very conscious early in the year that my starters get 75 pitches. I need him in the playoffs. He’s headed to VCU and they need him. When we win it’s because of the players, not one player and so the team has to kind of do this on their own.”
Miller (2-1) hosts Eastern Mennonite on Thursday while Woodberry (6-1) has the rest of the week off before traveling to Fork Union on March 29.
