Albemarle baseball lefthander Chris Cook was locked in Wednesday night.
“All my pitches were working — I’ve seen this team before I think this is my third time pitching against them, so I knew some of their strengths and weaknesses,” Cook said. “The defense was great behind me all night.”
Cook’s stuff and his previous experience paid off for the Patriots as Albemarle rolled 8-0 in the Region 5D first round against Harrisonburg, advancing to the region quarterfinals where they’ll square off with Halifax on the road Thursday.
Cook struck out eight and scattered four hits while allowing just a single walk in the win. Austin Bowen entered in the ninth to get the final out, but it was essentially a complete game effort from Cook.
“When you have good pitching, you’ve got a chance,” said Albemarle coach Jimmy Bibb. “Chris was great, Thomas at the Western game was outstanding, he’ll get the ball tomorrow and we’ll go play.”
Close losses stacked up for Albemarle this season, including one and two run defeats at the hands of Fluvanna and Orange County and Powhatan. But the Patriots steadily improved and got a little momentum going late with with a 2-0 win over Western. That set the stage for a strong performance against the Blue Streaks and a chance to stun Halifax on the road Thursday.
“I think they’re 19-2, they’ve just got a really, really good team,” Bibb said. “We’re just going to have to go battle but we’re excited to go.”
The Patriots gave Cook enough offense in part thanks to designated hitter Jack Kelly. In the bottom of the second, Kelly ripped a two-RBI single that scored Chase Miller and Austin Bowen also brought in Ivan Rabinowitz on the throw, handing Cook a 3-0 lead on the mound.
“We kept thinking about Jack Kelly and he came in as a DH tonight and hit the ball hard three times and got that big first one,” Bibb said. “Then we kind of took a deep breath and relaxed a little bit.”
Kelly then managed to score on a wild pitch to push the lead to 4-0. Albemarle snuffed out any hope of a comeback for the Blue Streaks with a monster sixth too, with Hunter Shifflett, Thomas Fischer and Jett Shue knocking in runs on back-to-back-to-back at bats. Jack Bruns had the Patriots’ other RBI, and eight different players scored Albemarle’s eight runs. Miller, Shifflett and Shue each hit doubles.
The Patriots now head south to take on Halifax in the Region 5D quarterfinals Thursday at 6 p.m.
“We have a big game tomorrow at Halifax, they’re a tough opponent and I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Cook said.
