It’s going to be a wild Jefferson District tournament with the way the season has unfolded. And now there’s this. Powhatan came into Thursday’s matchup with Western Albemarle with a flawless district record. Last year the Warriors came the closest to handing unbreaten William Monroe a district loss, falling in extra innings. After Tuesday’s loss to Monticello, Western coach Skip Hudgins made it clear and simple after his team fell in extra innings that they needed to rebound. They did so in fashion.
“We have one day to prepare for the unbeaten team in our district, so we’re going to have to move on quickly and put this one past us,” Hudgins said.
Apparently the one day break went well because the Warriors didn’t just hand Powhatan its first Jefferson District loss, they did so impressively, knocking off the Indians by a 7-1 margin.
Powhatan drew first blood, going up 1-0, but in the bottom of the third Stevie Mangrum cranked a shot to the fence for a triple, only to score soon there after on a wild pitch. Jack Maynard, who also was on the mound, then picked up a single and Dylan Weis drew a 2-out walk. Ebanks drove in pinch runner Daniel Kuzjak on a line drive to left field. Weiss was able to plate on a broken pick off play to make it 3-1.
The Warriors put up four more runs in the sixth inning when Maynard started off the rally by reaching base on an error. Kuzjack and Weis followed through with bunt singles to load the bases. Tanner Knight picked up an RBI single before Josh Casteen came to the plate as a pinch hitter. Casteen delivered a 2-run double two days before against Monticello that tied the contest. This time he did one better, hitting a 3-run double to make it 7-1.
Maynard had his way on the mound holding the Indians to four hits and a walk while striking out nine batters for the complete game victory.
Western (10-8, 4-5) heads to Fluvanna County on Tuesday at 6 p.m.. Those two along with Louisa County and Monticello are all in a tight race for the second and third seeds in the JD tournament.
