Western Albemarle pitcher Jack Maynard didn’t have his best stuff Thursday night.
But the sophomore hurler hung in there and battled, earning a complete game 8-3 victory over Monticello High in the process.
“That’s a really gutsy effort. That’s a bulldog-like performance by him, no doubt,” said Western coach Skip Hudgins.
Maynard helped his own cause in the sixth with a two-RBI single that helped Western push its lead to five runs when the Warriors were clinging to a three-run lead going into the frame. The hit came after escaping a tough sixth inning with the Mustangs threatening with runners on second and third.
“His (modus operandi) for us the last two years, right around the 80 pitch mark, late in the game, he seems to find another gear and I thought his last two innings were his best two,” Hudgins said. “He pitched out of some big time trouble in the sixth.”
Western picked up a lead early in the game with a three-run pop in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a Dylan Weiss two-RBI single with a pair of outs already on the scoreboard. Those early runs eventually forced Monticello to make a pitching change from staff ace Josh Malm and the Mustangs couldn’t close the gap on the Warriors after that either despite a 2 for 4 night from Connor Lilley and a 2 for 3 outing from Alex McNair.
Maynard finished with a 6-strikeout performance, while teammates Tyler Amato and John Mark Mastakas had RBIs. Amato knocked in two runs with a first inning single. Parker Morris and Weiss had two hits each.
Western heads to Powhatan Tuesday night to take on the Indians, currently the lone unbeaten squad in Jefferson District play.
