By Rodney Young
NRVSports.net
The Class 2 State Semi-finals Friday saw the Patrick Co. Cougars outlast the Poquoson Islanders 3-2 in nine innings, and Lebanon whip King William, 11-3.
Lebanon will now take on Patrick Co. today at 1 p.m. for the Class 2 State Championship at Kiwanis Park, Salem.
The Patrick County Cougars scored twice in the first inning as lead-off batter Erik Tejeda walked. He would steal second and score on an Islander error and a hit by Chris Hylton. The error allowed Hylton to advance to second base. Jaiden Wilson would then single in Hylton for a 2-0 lead.
Poquoson would tie the game in their half of the third with Logan Keesee and Rylan Phillips both drawing walks. Then a base hit by Dom Galacgac loaded the bases. With one out, Daniel McAdams was hit by a pitch to score Keesee. Brody Bunting drew a walk to score Phillips. The next two batters would strike out and ground out to end the threat, with the game tied at two apiece.
Both teams would have their chances. Poquoson left two runners on in the sixth and left the bases loaded in the seventh. Patrick Co. left runners on in the sixth and two on in the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
The eighth inning saw the Islanders leaving runners on, and again in the ninth.
Patrick Co. bottom of the ninth started with the first two batters making outs. Then Tejeda walked, Calvin Lancaster singled, and Hylton singled to load the bases. Jaiden Wilson would get the walk-off sharp single to left to score Tejeda for the winning run.
The Islanders had just five hits for the game, with Galacgac having two of them. Lucas Hatok, in relief of John Rainone took the loss. He tossed 4.1 innings. He gave up one run, six hits, and walked three. Patrick Co.Cougars relief pitcher Calvin Lancaster got the win as he went 2.0 innings. He allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out one. Tejeda scored two runs and walked four times. Wilson knocked in two with his two hits, and Lancaster also had two hits.
Patrick Co. 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1- 3
Poquoson 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2
Patrick Co. – WP – Lancaster
Poquoson – LP – Hatok
The nightcap game saw an over two-hour severe weather/ rain delay. King William scored two runs in the first, but the Lebanon Pioneers erupted for six runs in the second to go up 6-2. They would then tack on a run in the fourth and put the game away, scoring four times in the sixth as the Pioneers of Lebanon won 11-3.
The Pioneers were led at the plate by Ethan Horne, with two hits and three RBI. Brady Cole had two hits and two RBI, and Dawson Rasnake had two RBI. Cannon Barton got the mound win, pitching 6.0 innings. He allowed eight hits, three runs, one of which was earned, as the Pioneers committed four errors.
King William Cavaliers’ Henry Kite had three hits and scored two runs. Conner Coleman has two hits in the loss. Joseph Pasowicz took the loss as he lasted just 1.2 innings. He gave up five runs, four hits, and walked two. The Cavaliers committed three errors, as the two teams combined for seven total errors.
