Homegrown talent was on full display Wednesday evening at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg as former area standouts put on a show during Longwood University’s 7-5 win over the College of William & Mary.
Former Grafton stars Kyri Washington, Blake Ream and C.J. Roth, who as high-school seniors in 2012 led the Clippers to their first Region I title and state-semifinal appearance since 1999, seemed to enjoy their return to the area and were leading contributors in the Lancers’ third win in a row.
Ditto for former Jamestown catcher Scott Burkett (3-4), now a senior at Longwood, who recorded a team-high three hits and drove in a pair of runs.
Washington, the former district Player of the Year, had one of his best days in a Longwood uniform. He belted two home runs — the first a two-run shot in the top of the third inning that plated him and Roth to cut Longwood’s early deficit to 3-2 — to finish with three RBI and two runs-scored.
Roth (1-1, 2B, run, BB) reached base in each of his two plate appearances and scored Longwood’s first run on Washington’s first long ball of the game after doubling to center field.
Ream, who had been struggling on the hill entering Wednesday’s game, had his strongest relief effort of the season with three strikeouts over two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.
The trio’s effort resembled the type of collective performance they often gave during their senior seasons at Grafton when all three were named to the all-Bay Rivers District first team.
Clippers coach Matt Lewellen was disappointed that he could not make the game in Williamsburg but was not the least bit surprised to hear of his former players’ performance.
“They’re all competitors,” he said. “They’ve all worked hard to get where they are now. They’re the type of players who put in the extra work in the offseason that shows on game days.”
William & Mary has two local players on its pitching staff, former Jamestown High hurlers J.T. Castner and Matt Smith, but neither made an appearance Wednesday.
