After gaining an early lead against Courtland, starting pitcher Josh Malm had two trials to work through, both bases loaded jams. The damage between those two? One run on a sacrifice fly in the second. The rest belonged to Albemarle Post 74. Whether it was Malm working through the order with minimal damage, centerfielder Keegan Woolford chasing a deep fly and diving for the game winning out or the Albemarle offense simply getting the job done, Post 74 is heading into the American Legion Virginia State Tournament after an 11-1 slaughter rule win in about the best shape possible. It’s the team’s fourth straight District 13 title.
“We took advantage of their pitching, the walks, getting hit by a couple of pitches and the errors,” Maynard said. “That’s a great hitting team and for Josh Malm to hold them to one run, that’s a big night pitching. We’ve just been pitching well all week and fortunate enough to stay in the winners bracket. This is the youngest (American Legion) team I’ve ever had and I’m just really proud of them.”
Albemarle needed just three games to win the District 13 title and threw just four arms with all three of its starting pitchers going at least seven innings. This time Malm went the distance for Albemarle despite Courtland doing its best to make it troublesome.
In the top of the second, Courtland loaded the bases with no outs thanks to three straight singles from the middle of its order, but after a sacrifice fly, Malm snapped a line drive into his glove and went to second for an inning ending double play to avoid further damage. In the fourth, facing a bases loaded situation again, Malm ended the threat the old fashioned way with the third of his five strikeouts.
“I just needed to throw strikes obviously,” Malm said. “Connor Lilley, my catcher, and coach Maynard they let me know that it was just about throwing strikes, that if I did that, nothing could happen. So I just keep working on that.”
On the other hand, Albemarle’s bats were live, and thanks to some early miscues the offense made the most of an ideal situation, even with a few miscues on the basepaths. In the first, Post 74 grabbed five runs thanks to an RBI double for Ryan Morris, and RBI from Brett Johnson who reached on an error. A bases loaded walk to Connor Lilley made brought in another run and two wild pitches scored Austin Batten and Johnson to make it 5-0.
In the third Morris picked up the his second double of the night, but after an Austin Batten single, both runners were tagged out going to third. Still, Lilley was able to deliever an RBI single with two outs to make it 6-1.
“I watched them last night after I went 0-for (the night before) and came in wanting to drive the ball to the gaps,” Morris said, who found a centerfield gap in three of his four plate appearances.
The fifth proved to be the death blow for Post 74 starting with another leadoff double from Morris. After Batten was hit by a pitch for the second time on the night, Johnson delivered a 2-run single and advanced to second on an error. Jack Maynard then punched through an RBI single. Lilley reached on an error and Rich was then struck by a pitch. That allowed Keegan Woolford to deliver a sacrifice fly to make it 10-1. Ryan Leake then gave Albemarle the 10-run lead it was in search of with an RBI groundout.
“Their pitcher had trouble finding the zone and we knew that coming in,” Johnson said. “We had a couple of key hits and didn’t stop after that.”
Albemarle heads into the state tournament for the fourth straight season with all three of its starters in prime position to be on full rest. Turner went 8 innings on Sunday and will get the nod Tuesday against Roanoke Post 3 in Fredericksburg at 5 p.m. That leaves the door open for both Maynard and Malm to throw on Wednesday. The trio of starters gave up just three earned runs in a combined 22 innings of play in the district tournament.
“A lot of us last year were able to make as a junior team to the state tournament,” Malm said. “This year it’s going to be different. It’s not going to be easy but it will be fun playing with the best teams in the state. We just need to keep fighting.”
The team enters the tournament in a groove, winning two of its three district games by slaughter rule.
“A lot of things were in our favor by being in the winners bracket, but you never know what could have happened,” Maynard said. “So we took care of business tonight and made it easy. We’ve got great leadership right now between Ryan Morris and Lee Carneal. They’re putting everyone in the right direction.”
