HAMPTON ROADS — Virginia Peninsula Community College’s baseball team heads into the Region 10/Mid-Atlantic District III tournament on a positive note. The Gators closed the regular season by splitting a doubleheader against Allegany College of Maryland on May 3, rallying from a seven-run deficit to win the second game in the top of the seventh on a home run by Justin Bryson (Arbor View/Las Vegas).
VPCC finished the season 14-34 overall and 10-14 in the region, earning the fourth seed and setting up a single-elimination game May 8 against No.5 Rockingham Community College (N.C.) at Hooker Stadium in Martinsville. If the Gators win, they will advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament to face top-seeded Caldwell Community College (N.C.) on May 9 at 6 p.m. The championship game will be May 11. The Gators were the fifth seed in each of Shane Harrison’s first two seasons as head coach.
“We’re making progress,” he said.
His team lost the play-in game in 2024, making it a short trip, and his players don’t want that to happen again.
“The guys from last year that lost in that play-in game, and that was a one-run game, they remember it,” Harrison said. “They are talking to the rookies about it, how it’s no fun to go up there and play one game and come home. The experience of staying there for four or five days and playing baseball is what it’s all about.”
The Gators won five of six games against Rockingham this season, including a three-game sweep at home. Harrison is confident but not overly so.
“Rockingham’s only won five conference games. They were kind of like us last year. But, you know, at any given time, somebody can get hot and play a good baseball game,” he said.
One of the keys to his team’s success in the tournament will be getting out to fast starts. While the Gators have won close games and rallied from big deficits numerous times this season, that’s not a recipe for success.
“We’ve got to come out swinging and come out punching,” he said. “It’s almost like they haven’t wanted to start playing until they get punched in the mouth by about three or four or five runs. Then they want to play.”
Aiden Feather (Grassfield High School/Chesapeake) leads the offense, with a batting average of .439, 14 home runs and 54 runs batted in. However, it won’t come down to just him.
“Our biggest key is just getting our top two or three guys on base for Aiden to come up and do his thing,” Harrison said. “Our one through nine (batters) just have to hit.”
He said the Gators have done that much of the season, but still have lost games when they outhit the opponent.
Other big hitters are Israel Dozier (.377 average, 15 doubles, 51 runs), Brendan Walker (.310), Marco Fernandez (.306, 4 HRs, 34 RBIs), Justin Bryson (.276, 6 doubles, 22 RBIs) and Jayden Alvarez (.267, 7 doubles, 26 RBIs).
The Gators’ final Region 10 game was April 19, but they have played eight non-region games since. Harrison has had time to set up his rotation and rest his players.
“I don’t want to give them too much time off,” Harrison said of his pitchers. “These guys, they feel like they need to keep throwing.”
His team, also, is relatively injury-free.
“We’re looking pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got one or two (players) that are going to be game-time decisions, but as of right now, everybody’s healthy.”
That could lead to a longer stay in the tournament than in previous years.
“We’re looking forward to going down there and making some noise,” he said.
The tournament winner receives a bid to the NJCAA World Series, which is scheduled for May 24-29 in Auburn, New York.
In the Gators’ doubleheader split against Allegany, they gave up three runs in the first inning and lost the opener 6-0. They were held to three hits, all singles.
In the second game, Bryson hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh for an 8-7 victory. It was his fourth RBI of the game. The homer completed a comeback from a 7-0 deficit after the first inning. The rally started with a four-run third inning on a three-run homer by Walker (Lancaster) and an RBI single by Feather. Walker had an RBI single in the fifth, and run-scoring singles by Sean Burns Jr. (Woodside/Newport News) and Israel Dozier (Kempsville/Virginia Beach) in the sixth tied the game.
The week started with a 7-6 loss to The Apprentice School at War Memorial Stadium. The Gators fell behind 4-1 after three innings, but Feather hit a three-run home run in the fifth to tie before going ahead. Walker hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh and another run scored on an error by the Builders for a 6-4 lead for VPCC. However, the Gators couldn’t hold it and gave up three runs in the seventh. Dozier, Cameron Johnson (Nansemond River/Suffolk), Fernandez (Spanish River/Fla.) and Bryson all had two hits for the Gators.
The following day, the Gators traveled to Petersburg to face Virginia State University. The hosts won both games, 5-1 and 12-7. Feather and Fernandez had two hits each. Alvarez (Woodside/Newport News) had a solid start on the mound, going five innings and giving up six hits and three earned runs. He struck out five.
In the second game, the Gators scored three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to tie the game at 7. However, the Trojans responded with five runs in the sixth for the win. Dozier drove in two runs, and Aiden Cox (Grassfield/Chesapeake) had two hits and scored three times.
Region 10/Mid-Atlantic District III tournament schedule
(May 8-11 at Hooker Stadium in Martinsville)
Thursday
Game 1, 5 p.m.: 4th seed VPCC vs. No.5 Rockingham
Friday
Game 2, 3 p.m.: No. 2 Paul D. Camp vs. No. 3 Surry Community College
Game 3: 6 p.m.: No. 1 Caldwell Community College vs. Game 1 winner
Saturday
Game 4, noon: Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3
Game 5 at 3:00 p.m.: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3 (loser eliminated)
Game 6 at 6:00 p.m.: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 4 (loser eliminated)
Sunday
Game 7, noon: Winner Game 4 vs. winner of Game 6
Game 8, 3 p.m.: if necessary
For more information on VPCC, visit vpcc.edu.