Dateline: Vienna Crabtree Field
It was a hot evening as the number one seed, Reston American rolled into Vienna to play Vienna at a game in their own park. The press made much of the battle between the cousins of Pete on Reston American and Matt on Vienna National. Both cousins wished each other a good game and Reston American happily won the toss and chose to be the home team.
Conor went to the mound. The first pitch was a hard shot to the outfield that just got over the fence. Conor settled down and got the next batter to ground out to the mound, then he got Matt to ground out to Patrick at second and finally he struck out the clean up the hitter. Reston American immediately threatened as Pete singled and Kent singled. Unfortunately, Reston American ended up leaving those two runners on base and after one it was Vienna National 1 Reston American 0.
In the second, Vienna National got a couple of hits, but Conor stayed tough getting one batter to fly out to Graham in center and he struck out a batter and got the ninth batter to ground out to Pete who made a great play as he fired to Justin at first for out three. Reston American went down in order. After two it was still Vienna National 1 Reston American 0.
In the third, Vienna National got a few more runs off a couple of hits and a long shot to right center by the cleanup hitting. Conor again settled down and got the next batter to popout to the mound. The next batter hit a high fly to deep left that Sam settled under and made a great catch for out two. Conor struck out the last batter for out three. In the bottom of the third the crafty Vienna National pitcher got Reston American to again go quietly.
In the fourth, the first batter doubled. Coach Grossman brought in Pete who then got the next batter to ground out to Patrick at second who made a nice play as he flipped to Jordan at first. Vienna National scored the run on some more grounders to the infield but Pete got the last batter to pop out to Conor at short. In the bottom of the fourth Reston American again went down in order. In the fifth, Pete was dominant as he got the first batter to ground out back to the mound and struck out the next two. In the bottom of the fifth, Reston American got a runner on as Josh battled for a walk, but unfortunately, Vienna National turned a well executed double play to end the inning. Pete again looked great in the sixth as he picked up two more strikeouts. He then got his cousin for the second time of the day as he grounded out to Conor who made a great play on the ball and fired to Jordan at first.
In the bottom of the sixth, Reston fans were hoping for a comeback. Graham hit a ball well but unfortunately it was caught by the right fielder. Conor then singled, but the Vienna National pitcher got the last two batters and the game ended: Vienna National 6 Reston American 0.
Coach Grossman was available briefly after the game. “We certainly have to give a lot of credit to the fine Vienna National ball club. They had some great hitters and they played excellent defense and we certainly didn’t hit well against their pitcher. It wouldn’t surprise me if they end up representing our district in the state tournament. I’m proud of our team. We had three come from behind wins, we went 5-0 in the bracket and we kept battling all game. I think we are one of the best teams in the state and its a shame we won’t be able to prove that at the state tournament, but this has absolutely been a fantastic group of players and parents. It was an honor to coach this team. We’ve had some truly outstanding assistant coaches and I am confident that all of our players will continue to play and enjoy the game of baseball.”
