The first thing that went through York senior Brandon Harvell’s mind after he plunked Lafayette’s Warren Atkins with the bases loaded to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning of Friday’s baseball showdown at the Williamsburg Sports Complex was, “Oh man, what is coach [Rusty] Ingram thinking.”
Ingram immediately vocalized his thoughts: “What the heck are you doing? We’ve been working on [locating pitches with runners in scoring position] all season!”
Harvell, though, the way he and Falcons’ starter Jimmy Angell did all afternoon, worked his way out of the jam by getting the next batter to pop out with the sacks still full.
And then in the top of the seventh, Harvell singled before scoring one of three York runs in the frame to help the Falcons go ahead 5-2. Harvell returned to the mound with a three-run cushion and breezed through the top half of Lafayette’s lineup as York held on for a 5-2 victory, only to cause even more confusion on the Bay Rivers District standings.
The loss for Lafayette dropped the Rams (12-5 BRD) out of a three-way tie for first place with Warhill and New Kent – who both won Friday – and into a share of second place with York (12-5). Lafayette will close the regular season at Poquoson (9-7 BRD), while York will finish up at home against Grafton (11-6 BRD).
York’s three runs in the top of the seventh were a combination of timely hitting and defensive miscues on the part of Lafayette.
The Falcons’ Dalton Dye got the inning started by reaching on an error before back-to-back singles by Harvell and Josh Smith loaded the bases with one out.
That brought the district’s best hitter, Trevor Kelly, to the plate, and his ground ball up the middle drew another Lafayette error as shortstop Jeremiah Antle tried to turn two, but his flip to second was low and got past second baseman Chris Villanueva, which allowed two costly runs to score. Cole Ingram would follow Kelly with a sacrifice fly that drove in Smith for the Falcons’ third and final run of the inning before Harvell shut the door in the bottom of the frame.
York finished with 11 hits to Lafayette’s seven, but the biggest difference came on the defensive end as the Falcons didn’t commit a single error while the Rams finished with two, both of which led to runs.
The two coaches’ takes on Friday’s contest were different, but equally accurate.
“When pitching and defense come to the park, you’re always going to be in the game,” York’s Rusty Ingram said. “And then when you string 11 hits together, good things are going to happen.”
Said Lafayette’s Rick Schenk, “Baseball is a game of opportunities. In the last inning, [York] took advantage of our errors, and that’s the game in a nutshell.”
Both starters on Friday, Lafayette’s Daniel Blankinship and York’s Jimmy Angell, were dealing early and cruised through the first three innings.
Blankinship struck out four batters and allowed three hits through the first three frames while Angell allowed a total of two base runners over the same duration.
York took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Brian Willis that scored Kelly, who led off the inning with a walk. The Falcons were fortunate to get the second run as Blankinship was called for a balk, which gave Nick Hornung, who doubled a batter before. Blankinship, though, regained his composure to get out of the inning and strand a runner on third.
The Rams got one run back in the bottom of the fifth. After Tyler Kirby led off with a single, he stole second and then advanced to third on a base hit from Warren Atkins before Luc Lipcious plated Kirby with a deep sacrifice fly to center.
Angell got into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third and one out before Ingram called for Harvell in relief. After walking the first batter he faced, Harvell got Kirby to whiff at strike three for a huge out with the bases loaded.
With two outs and Harvell looking to get out the bases-loaded jam, he instead hit Atkins with a pitch that allowed the game-tying run to score from third.
“He looked at me like ‘what are you doing?’” Harvell said of Ingram’s reaction. “I just told myself that I had to throw strikes, not walk him and keep it tied going into the seventh inning.”
Harvell did just that, and then helped spark the decisive three-run inning in the top of the seventh that helped the Falcons climb right into
“This was huge,” Ingram added of the victory. “Grafton is going to be a huge game next Tuesday, but if do what we’re supposed to do, the worst we can finish is no lower than third.”
York 5 Lafayette 2
York- 000;200;2 – 5 11 0
Lafayette- 000;011;0 – 2 7 2
WP: Harvell
LP: Blankinship
York (12-5 BRD)- Harvell 2-4 (run), Kelly 1-3 (run, RBI), Dye 2-3 (run)
Lafayette (12-5 BRD)- Atkins 1-2 (HBP, RBI), Kirby 1-3 (run, SB), A. Lipcious 2-3 (run)
