With a few players from George Mason High School (GMHS) out for a showcase, the Falls Church Colts were trimmed down to a roster of 10 and fell in both games of a doubleheader to the W.T. Woodson 18U baseball team last Saturday by a combined score of 29-8.
In the first contest, Woodson proved to be too much for the nine-man Colts squad, whose error demons returned in an arduous second inning, leading to a 9-3 Falls Church loss. Due to a lack of pitching on both sides, the game was called after the fifth inning.
Carl Hollinger from Langley High School struck out two batters in the first inning but got scorched for seven runs on five hits in the second. The rising junior got little help behind him, however, as three balls were booted in the inning. Woodson’s eighth run was scored in the third inning off yet another Falls Church error, while their ninth was plated in the fourth frame off every possible defensive miscue. Woodson’s number two hitter reached on an error, moved to second on a balk, dashed to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
There was little offensive production against the knuckle ball-hurling pitcher of Woodson, who struck out seven Colts batters. Zach Glenn (Langley High) had half of Falls Church’s hits with two.
Even though the first game was the one called after five innings, the course of the latter contest might have led some players to wish it had been stopped early as well, as Woodson rolled to a 20-5 victory.
All five runs by the Colts were put up in the first frame on four hits, but were relatively shut down for the rest of the afternoon, managing only four hits for the remaining six innings. Singles by Hollinger, Lonnie Millard (GMHS), and Jake Bennett (Marshall High) and a double by Evans Mandes (GMHS) led to an early lead, but Falls Church was unable to hang onto it for long.
Hurling five pitchers, Coach Adam Amerine’s squad allowed 20 runs on 16 hits, but ultimately, seven errors doomed them early. Woodson scored three runs in the first and second innings and four in the fourth, but exploded for eight in the final frame to surge ahead to the lopsided victory.
The past week was not all bad for the Colts, however, as they eked out a 4-2 win over the Virginia Outlaws on July 8. Andrew Lieber (GMHS), in one of his first outings on the mound since his junior varsity years, picked up the win, hurling three innings and striking out two batters.
Lieber made it through a rocky second inning, in which he gave up three hits, but got out of a jam with two ground balls, escaping with only one run. A double play by Colts right fielder Tyler Roth (GMHS) and Hollinger got Lieber out of the third frame with minimal damage as well.
Glenn and Bennett combined to hurl the final four innings, allowing only one hit to preserve the Colts victory.
On the offensive end, Hollinger led his squad with three hits, and tacked on insurance in the fourth inning after doubling and scoring on a Glenn single. In the second inning, the Colts plated two runs when Bennett and Hollinger singled and scored on a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch, respectively. Back-to-back errors by the Outlaw shortstop scored Ben Taylor (GMHS), who singled, for the go-ahead run in the third inning.
The short-handed Colts returned to their winning ways this past Tuesday with a 12-5 victory, but details were not available at press time. Falls Church rounds out their summer schedule Saturday, July 19 with a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. at George Mason High School.