After building a 6-0 lead Monday night in the first two innings against Western Albemarle, Louisa County baseball had to hold on tight to escape Crozet with a 6-4 win.
The Warriors bounced back from a frustrating start that included a five-run second inning to score four runs in the fourth and fifth and get within striking distance of the Lions. But with help from reliever Shane Dunkum, who came in in the bottom of the sixth, the Lions held on for the two-run road win. Dunkum struck out two and didn’t allow a run or a walk in his 1.1 innings of work, including a critical strikeout when he entered in the sixth with two on and the go-ahead run at the plate.
A series of walks helped spark the Lions’ effort in the second inning with three-straight free passes eventually leading to Ross Hardy entering at pitcher for Western with the bases loaded. Lucas Cash then singled to knock in a run before the Lions tacked on three more thanks to a Christian Lam RBI single, a wild pitch and a Sean Karney line drive to left that plated Lam.
That gave Louisa a 6-0 lead and put the Warriors in a hole that proved too deep to climb out of with Louisa’s defense locked in for the most part. Cash went three innings and surrendered a pair of runs while striking out two. Codey Batten gav up two runs in 2.2 innings before Dunkum came in and shut things down in the late sixth and seventh.
Cash went 2-for-3 on the night with an RBI while Lam and Karney each went 2-for-4 and notched two RBI. Dunkum went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored once while Ryan Toney hit a double.
Trevor Vernon had a solid night at the plate for Western, going 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Michael Holzwarth and Ben Winslow each had an RBI.
Western Albemarle travels to Albemarle Thursday night while the Lions look to keep things rolling against Fluvanna on the road the same night.
