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Burch’s clutch hit sparks Western baseball past Fluvanna

 

On Thursday, Western Albemarle’s baseball team hosted Fluvanna looking to stay unbeaten to start the season, and like so many times recently, the clash between the Warriors and Fluvanna came down to the wire.

 

This time, it was the Warriors who came up with the big come-from-behind victory, taking the game 6-5 in walk-off fashion with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh from Joey Burch while facing an 0-2 count.

 

“It’s a great team win, three in a row is real sweet, so just happy to start off the season well and hopefully we can keep it going,” Burch said.

 

For the first three innings, the game seemed to have the makings of a pitcher’s duel, with John Glasscock on for the Flucos and Luke Craytor starting for Western.  Both pitchers had solid stuff going early, with Western holding a 1-0 lead after three innings of play.  But in the fourth, Glasscock got in too much trouble to stick around, with the damage being done on an RBI single from Brandon Thomas and an RBI fielder’s choice from Andrew Barrese to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.

 

Then the Flucos’ lineup started to get going after remaining mostly silent for the first four innings, eventually loading the bases with one out when Craytor was taken out and Burch came in in relief for Western. The third pitch Burch threw went over the center field wall on a huge grand slam from Fluvanna’s John Rittenhouse to give his team a 4-3 lead.

 

However, the Warriors weren’t rattled, as they remained mentally tough and got things going in the bottom of the sixth. The biggest blow coming from a pinch-hit appearance for Cooper Nelson that tied the game at 4-4, and then a sacrifice fly from Barrese to give the Warriors the lead yet again at 5-4. But they wouldn’t hold that lead for long, as Rittenhouse came up big for the Flucos again in the seventh with an RBI single to tie the game again.

 

The Warriors needed a big lift, and after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the seventh by James Meenan, they got that lift. They loaded up the bases with one out, and Burch, who gave up the lead earlier on the grand slam, drove in the winning run on a single up the middle to take the game for the Warriors.

 

“He’s the toughest kid in our program, he’s an all-state wrestler and a really good football player and he’s just starting to get caught up a little bit here, and I’m really proud of him, he is a tough, tough nut,” said Warriors coach Skip Hudgins.

 

Several Warriors contributed to the victory. Burch got the win in relief and got the walkoff single in his only plate appearance, Thomas went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and Barrese who had two RBIs as well.  For the Flucos, John Rittenhouse had two hits and drove in all five of his team’s runs, while Tristan Chisholm went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a sacrifice bunt.

 

After this, the Warriors move on to host Louisa on Monday, while the Flucos will host Orange Tuesday night.

 

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