They thought they had it in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and the game tied, Orange Post 156 was sitting pretty with no outs. Albemarle Post 74’s Danny Morris made Orange wait another inning as he struck out the next three batters he faced.
But after battling through a scare of its own in the top of the tenth, Jesse Getchel gave Orange a leadoff hit in the bottom half of the inning before taking second base. Facing an 0-2 count with one out, Lazero Torres put the Post 156 players and fans at ease, picking up a line drive, walkoff single to give his team a 7-6 win.
“We probably should have won that game an inning earlier but I thought the kids did a good job of battling back,” said Orange assistant coach Troy Moore who was filling in for head coach Jessie Lohr.
Torres, who usually catches for Orange, had an interesting evening as he played shortstop because of a limited roster. The former Hornet turned a double-play in the fifth, made a potential run saving tag at second in the eighth and also was a part of the last four runs that his team scored.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play and not strike out,” Torres said of the winning hit in the tenth. “I got lucky there, I squared up and put the bat on it.”
In the bottom of the fifth Torres put Orange out in front by a run with an RBI triple and then scored on a ground out RBI from Robert Merryman. Two innings later with his team down a run again, he tied the game up after picking up an infield single, stealing second, tagging to third base and finally taking home on a wild pitch.
There were six lead changes in the game as both squads battled back and forth. Albemarle took a 1-run lead to start the game on an RBI single from Jake Hendrix, but Orange immediately answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a double from Derek Justice, who then stole third and took home on a wild pitch.
Noylan Moore gave Orange its first lead of the game in the bottom of the second on a double play ball that scored Dillon Wagner from third.
After a leadoff double from Danny Morris and RBI double from Thomas Stallings, Albemarle tied the game in the fourth. Immediately after Stallings extra base hit, Eli Haden put Post 74 up a run by reaching base on an error with two outs.
“I think it was a good learning experience for us tonight,” said Albemarle coach Mike Maynard. “This game, just like the last two, was a good close game and hopefully we’ll be able to take something from this.”
Orange put together a 3-run sixth inning led by a double from Justice who scored on a single from Colston Bayliss which set up Torres’ triple and Merryman’s RBI grounder.
And were it not for the walkoff single in the tenth, Albemarle’s Logan Forloines would have provided the highlight of the game after he did something few batters every do at Porterfield Park — go deep to right field. Forloines left no doubt about his blast in the top of the eighth, a 2-run shot that gave Albemarle the lead.
But the night did not end as Albemarle had hoped. After Morris came up big by striking out the side to end the ninth, Albemarle got Colin Tucker to second base with one down, but could not plate him. At the end of the night, that was the story for Maynards team.
“We left a lot of runners out there early,” Maynard said. “I don’t think that we lost that game in the one inning.”
Orange hosts King George Post 89 on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Albemarle finishes up its regular season on Tuesday as they host Staunton Post 13, also at 7 p.m.
