By KEVIN TRUDGEON
STEPHENS CITY ? It is hard to imagine much of anything rattling the Sherando baseball team these days.
Thirteen-inning marathon with their first 29 batters failing to reach base? Been there, done that.
Trailing by a run and down to their final three outs with the season and a berth in the state tournament hanging in the balance? That’s old hat.
In a season that’s featured 23 wins in 24 games, there’s certainly been plenty to get excited about for the Warriors and their fans.
But after what they accomplished last week ? which also featured the first region championship in program history ? it is safe to say the Warriors aren’t short on confidence.
“I think during the regular season we only saw three or four games that were decided by three runs or less,” said senior shortstop Taylor Loudan, who helped the Warriors outscore their opponents by more than eights runs per game during the regular season and Northwestern District tournament. “So showing during the regional tournament, on a big stage, that we came out and we got the job done when we needed to do it was big.
“Whether it was in extra innings or in regular innings, we showed that we can play in tight ball games, under adversity, under stress and get the job done.”
Now it’s time for an even bigger stage.
Thanks to Friday’s 9-4 win over Woodgrove in the Region II finals, Sherando (23-1) will host Culpeper (15-6) in the Group AA state quarterfinals at 7 p.m. tonight.
The Blue Devils, who finished second in the Battlefield District behind Eastern View, are coming off a disappointing 11-0 loss to Warhill in the Region I championship game and will be itching to get back on track against the Warriors.
Coach Billy Mitchell plans on sending senior captain Blain Lafin to the mound tonight and the hard-throwing right-hander, who was clocked throwing 91 in the district championship game, should provide a tough challenge for Sherando.
“His strength is his fastball, but he mixes in a curveball to keep hitters off balance,” said Mitchell about Lafin, who will be headed to VMI on a scholarship in the fall.
Surrounding Lafin is the most experienced team in Mitchell’s five years leading the Blue Devils.
Fellow senior captains Charley Peavley and Jared Elliot are each four-year varsity lettermen and Ramey Ferall (Roanoke College) and Sean-Lite Risher (West Virginia Tech) will be playing collegiate ball next year.
Culpeper is averaging more than seven runs per game and has a team batting average over .300, according to Mitchell. They don’t have home run hitters throughout the lineup, but they put the ball in play, like to be aggressive and can play small ball when needed.
Mitchell said that Friday’s loss to Warhill was compounded by errors and miscues, but he’s confident his team will bounce back in the program’s first-ever appearance in the state playoffs.
“We had a good day of practice [Monday] and we’ve put that behind us,” Mitchell said. “We lost a tough one to Eastern View in the district tournament 5-4 in 11 innings and we came back to win two regional games, so they know how to come back.
“This is the first time we’ve even been to regionals since 1992, but we’ve been saying since winter that we thought if we played our game we could go far.”
The same could be said about the Warriors, who lost 17 of 19 wins off their pitching staff from last year but still had a talented roster returning.
Junior Reid Entsminger, who threw nine innings of shutout ball in the region quarterfinals against Loudoun Valley, has helped lead a staff that has been downright dominant and will get the start on the mound tonight.
“I’m ready to go another nine innings if I have to,” said Entsminger, who compiled a 0.45 ERA during the regular season and was named the Northwestern District Player of the Year.
“Hopefully we get it done in seven, but I’m willing to go nine again. We know that every team in the state tournament is going to be a good team, we know we’re going to have to play our best to win.”
Based on last week, their best could mean anything from holding a team scoreless over nine innings to rallying from a run down in extras to blowing a close game open with a grand slam for the Warriors.
Martin said he was pleased with how his team persevered during the region tournament and hopes that experience pays dividends moving forward.
“We feel good about how we handled those close games and how we executed,” Martin said. “We were hoping to get a few more situations like that during the district tournament, but we didn’t. Then the first two games in regionals are like that and we needed to make plays to win and we did.”
A win over Culpeper today would send Sherando down I-81 to Calfee Park in Pulaski to play the winner of Amherst and Bassett in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. on Friday.
The Warriors know they can’t look past the Blue Devils, especially since they’ll be playing their final home game of the season against them.
After playing in front of packed houses three times last week, they’re expecting their biggest crowd yet when they take the field today.
“It’s great seeing all of the people out here supporting us, it’s just more motivation for us to perform well in front of everybody,” Entsminger said. “This might not happen next year, you never know, so we’re just trying to make the best of it and give it our all and hopefully win a state title.”