Miller baseball took care of business Thursday with a 13-0 win over Blue Ridge, piling up 10 hits while snuffing out any hopes of a second-straight stunner from the Barons with Garrett Payne and Ian Haney combining for a one-hitter over five innings.
The win vaults the Mavericks, ranked No. 1 in the VISAA’s Division II, into the VIC title game that they’ll host Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Miller took a 1-0 lead in the first with a Jack Marshall RBI single then really started stacking runs in the second when Jeremy Wagner ripped a two-RBI double. Marshall then plated two more right after Wagner with another single to make it 5-0 Mavericks.
The game blew open in the third though where Miller scored six runs, with Payne helping himself with an RBI double, Marshall doubling in Wagner and Lucas Adam ripping a three-run homer to center. Francois Dorian then tacked on another run in the fifth with an RBI single and Sebastian Dorian singled in Francois to cap the scoring.
Payne struck out seven in 3.1 innings of work while Haney tacked on another two strikeouts in 1.2 innings. Payne issued the lone walk and surrendered the single hit.
A day after an explosive offensive effort against Covenant that netted Blue Ridge its first playoff win in nine years, the Barons managed just the one hit from Blake Koenning against the Mavericks and just two total baserunners. Six errors also piled up and didn’t help the Barons’ cause.
Miller will play for the title Friday while the loss ends Blue Ridge’s season.
