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Playing Next Tuesday: William Monroe baseball clinches state tourney spot with win over Caroline

Photo by Brian Mellott

It says a lot about the standard that William Monroe’s baseball team has set for itself that they didn’t feel like Tuesday night was a particularly good performance. 

 

“We were very fortunate,” said William Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “I think we were sleepwalking a little bit. But guess what? We’re going to play next Tuesday.”

 

It may not have been pretty, but it was effective as the Dragons won 4-0 over Caroline and Lance Williams struck out nine and allowed just a single hit in 6.1 innings of work on the mound. In the process, Monroe clinched a state tournament berth — that they’ll play in starting next Tuesday — and advanced to the region championship Thursday night when they host Meridian, a squad they split with during Northwestern District play. 

 

Williams put together that gem despite not being completely locked in on the mound. 

 

“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I worked through it,” Williams said. “My curveball wasn’t working, my fastball wasn’t working so I kind of just had to throw it in there and if it was a strike it was a strike.”

 

When he faltered, Williams’ defense picked him up in key spots. The biggest of those moments came in the sixth, when just after Caroline’s Myles Holmes broke up Williams’ no-hit bid with a single. In the next at bat,  Kaleb Doshier made a tough play where he couldn’t complete a double play at second but fired the ball to first for a critical out. In the next at bat, Doshier ran down the ball in shallow center field and fired it to catcher Gage Jenkins at home plate for the tag to end the sixth. 

 

Jenkins was strong behind the plate throughout, not willing to allow any cheap bases or runs. 

 

“I thought Gage Jenkins did a really good job behind the plate,” Maynard said. 

 

Waylon Anderegg gave the Dragons all the offense they needed from the ninth spot in the lineup in the second inning when he ripped a double to right and scored Jayden Kirby and Talan Shifflett. Anderegg bringing that kind of power to the bottom of the lineup serves as a huge potential boost for the Dragons.

 

“He’s gotten better every single game, he’s just a freshman,” Maynard said. “He always has a good at bat and he took a good swing at that and that was big for us.”

 

 

Williams went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI on one of the bases loaded walks on the night and Kirby had a double. Anderegg was 2-for-2. Jamal Neal drew the other bases loaded walk for an RBI.

 

The Dragons scored two more in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of bases loaded walks that extend the lead to 4-0. Waylon Cheek then entered in the sixth after Williams recorded his final strikeout and Cheek induced a couple of flyouts sandwiched around a single to end the game. 

 

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