Western Albemarle pitcher Dillon Via’s curveball was simply on point, and it made all the difference on a poignant night for the Warriors where Western picked up a 3-0 victory over Monticello at home.
“He had a filthy curveball tonight — at times I thought it was unhittable,” said Western coach Skip Hudgins. “You just weren’t going to do anything with it.”
The Warriors celebrated the life of their assistant coach for 23 years, Lou Beeler, before the opening pitch. Beeler passed away in December after battling cancer for five years, and his family was presented with a framed copy of his jersey after a short memorial speech was read over the public address system.
“I loved Lou like a brother,” Hudgins said. “He’s been with me for a long time. It still doesn’t seem right not having him out here. I still sort of look for him.”
Western seemed to draw from the emotion of the pregame ceremony and looked sharp from the first pitch on. Via settled in quickly, keeping the Mustangs off balance throughout with his curve all night. Via managed to stay ahead of Monticello’s batters while piling up 13 strikeouts and surrendering just two hits and one walk.
“We’re always trying to get ahead of batters,” Via said. “After you’re ahead it’s really your game, you can throw whatever you want.”
Nick Kuzjak, Nick Pegan and Scott Wakley each knocked in runs for Western (6-5, 3-2 Jefferson). Pegan also scored on Wakley’s RBI single and took a catcher’s mask to the face on his slide to home as Monticello’s Garrett Mullaney tried to apply the tag. That run gave Western the 3-0 lead that held through seven innings because while the Warriors scratched out three runs against Tyler Moneymaker with some opportunistic base running, Western couldn’t solve Brandon Ladd, who through three scoreless innings for Monticello in a strong relief performance, mixing fastballs and changeups deftly in every inning while pounding the strike zone. He also got solid defensive support, much like Moneymaker did — a 6-3 double play at the end of the first pulled Monticello out of a bases loaded jam.
But even with the defense playing well and Ladd keeping it close and giving the Mustangs a chance, Monticello couldn’t seem to make any progress against Via.
“We pitched well enough to win, we just didn’t swing it,” said Monticello coach Neil Schaffner. “We need to get mentally tougher and grind out at bats instead of just giving up at bats like we did tonight.”
Both squads hit the road Tuesday night as Monticello takes on Charlottesville while Western locks up with William Monroe.
