With the way Derek Domecq was throwing, Western Albemarle only needed a little window. So when the Warriors put on a pair of runners on with one out in the bottom of the sixth, it was finally time to cash in. As it turns out, it was Domecq’s inning to shine. The sophomore drove in the go-ahead run and then responded by taking the mound in the bottom of the seventh and striking out the side to wrap up a 3-2 win on the road over an Albemarle squad that scratched and clawed all the way through.
“Derek pitched a great game, has his last two times out, and truthfully, that’s what we expect,” said Western coach Skip Hudgins. “We knew (when the season started) we’d get off to a bit of a slow start, but had a chance to be pretty good down the road. I think we’re getting on the right track. We beat a pretty good team in Spotswood on Monday and then a good Albemarle team today. Momentum is a powerful thing. It makes what we’re trying to do (as coaches) make sense. You can tell people all kinds of things, but when you don’t have success it falls on deaf ears.”
Domecq threw all seven innings to pick up the complete game victory and struck out nine batters on the night. And while it was obviously a solid outing, it was one that only got better as the game went on. Domecq allowed just one baserunner on a single against the last 13 batters he faced and struck out seven Patriots during that stretch.
Offensively, Western loaded the bases twice in the fourth and fifth innings but could not break the game open against Patriots starter Aaron Leathers or reliever Scott Reid. Leathers worked his way out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the fourth by getting a shallow fly to the outfield where the Warriors could not tag and then inducing a quick groundout to short. Reid took over for Leathers in the fifth, and found himself in a similar predicament but got a fielders choice to home to stop the Warriors from scoring and then picked up an inning ending strikeout. Between those efforts, Leathers and Reid kept the game tied before Domecq came through in the seventh.
“Coach told us before the inning, so long as we didn’t swing at bad pitches we’d get that run,” Domecq said. “(In the bottom half) I was just looking to pitch and if they put it play, it happens, but they wound up not being able to. I really trust my defense to make plays so it wasn’t about going for strikeouts.”
With the game knotted at 2-2, Henry Kreienbaum led the inning off by reaching on an error off a hard hit ball to third. After a strikeout, Ryan Sukovich reached on an error up the middle and the Warriors had runners on the corners with one out. It was there that Domecq delivered an RBI single before taking the mound and closing out the game.
“We played fundamentally sound until the seventh with those two errors, but hey, that’s baseball,” said Albemarle coach Jimmy Bibb. “I was pleased with the way we played. We left a few runners on base a couple of times, but so did they. We battled and scrapped the whole ball game. They made some plays and they’re a good ball club, but we’re coming along too. We’re young and had our starting catcher get hurt so I’m really proud of the kids. I thought Aaron and Scott threw really well. Scott’s just a sophomore and he comes in and just knows how to pitch. So you hate to see him take the loss there, but it happens. It was a heck of a ball game.”
Sukovich started the scoring when he cranked a solo shot over the left field fence in the top of the second inning to put the Warriors ahead.
“I was expecting a first pitch fastball against a pitcher I’ve never seen before and I got exactly what was I thinking but really just swung for a base hit,” Sukovich said.
Chris Hughes then led off the third with a single and after a sacrifice bunt and Kreienbaum single, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead with Sam Hearn delivering an RBI groundout.
Albemarle answered in the bottom of the third. It started with Alex Petroka getting hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Michael Varaksa came up with a single. Then Nathan Toney came through with an RBI double and Ryan Porter with an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the contest at 2-2. The Warriors got out of the inning with a wild pitch but Sukovich was able to get the ball to Domecq who made the tag on the runner coming home to avoid further damage.
On the day, Kreienbaum and Sukovich were both 2-for-4 while Domecq was 2-for-3.
For Albemarle, Porter was 2-for-4 and the only Patriot with multiple hits as Domecq gave up just six in the outing.
Western hosts Fluvanna County on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Albemarle will face Orange County on Wednesday, but as of Tuesday night, it has yet to be determined whether it will be on the road or at home.
