William Monroe’s Colter Foster wasn’t supposed to pitch Tuesday night in a rainy clash with Warren County. And Dragons’ coach Mike Maynard waited until pretty close to gametime to give Foster, usually a reliever but a righty who has started two other games, the nod.
“Coming in with 25, 30 minutes notice and throw 25 pitches in the bullpen is kind of normal for me,” Foster said. “Our starter (Waylon) Cheeks went home sick, but we came out and got it done.”
He pitched like it was normal for him, spearheading a combined five-inning no-hitter along with teammates Josh Adderly and Jayden Kirby en route to an 11-1, workman-like run-ruling that pushed the Dragons into the top spot in region tournament play as Monroe starts to enter the final few weeks of the season.
“He’s been our reliever all year and wanted to save our No. 1 for Brentsville Friday,” Maynard said. “We’ve been playing well here lately and kind of gelling as a team. We play the best competition we can play which will hopefully help us out in the postseason.”
Foster stuck out four in his three innings while Adderly struck out two and gave up one walk and Kirby struck out one to cap the no-hit effort in the fifth.
Foster faced a challenging first inning, escaping after surrendering just a single run due in large part to giving up a couple of walks. Minimizing that damage immediately proved fruitful when junior Lance Williams ripped a double to centerfield to switch places with Kaleb Doshier, who singled and then stole second. Williams, who will pitch against Brentsville Friday and has emerged as a formidable hitter and crucial pitcher for the Dragons since transferring from Page County, has settled in nicely with what was already an experience-laden Monroe squad.
“I was feeling great (tonight), the pitching was a little slow so I had to stay back and if you stay back like that you can get out a little more on your front foot and start hitting more,” Williams said. “This is a great group of kids, I’ve fit in really well with them, they’ve been very nice to me.”
After Foster reached on an error, Jared Shifflett hit a two-RBI single to right and put the Dragons up for good at 3-1. Monroe tacked on two more runs in the big first inning with Gauge Jenkins knocking in a run and Adderly scoring on a wild pitch.
Once Foster retired the side in the top of the second including two strikeouts, the Dragons then pushed their lead to 9-1 in the bottom half, with a two-run home run by sophomore Jamal Neal getting it started. Williams scored after hitting his second double when Shifflett reached on an error and Waylon Anderegg knocked in another run.
In the bottom of the fifth, Foster helped end the game with an RBI double and then Warren County gave up a bases loaded walk to push the deficit to 10 runs and end the game.
The Dragons square off with Brentsville Friday night.
