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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Haymarket-The 6A North Region Championship was played on a humid night in Northern Virginia. No. 14 Chantilly, the Concorde Conference Champions, took on No. 8 Battlefield, the Cedar Run Conference Champs. Both teams had gone undefeated in Conference play during 2016. Chantilly was playing in its third straight 6A North Region championship game, having won in 2014 and lost in 2015. The Bobcats haven’t been this deep in the Region Tournament since the current VHSL format was put in place. The two teams had met earlier in the season, with Battlefield leading most of the game before the Chantilly offense exploded in the sixth and seventh innings, turning the game into a route. Chantilly went with senior lefty Forrest Wagner (Roanoke) for the start and Battlefield sent senior righthander Keagan McGinnis (Virginia Tech) to the mound.

Chantilly was not intimidated early by McGinnis’s big fastball as Jared Enders (Holy Cross) worked a walk to lead off the game. The Chargers got on the board quickly as the next hitter, senior third baseman Jared DiCesare (George Mason), doubled to deep left center, scoring Enders. After a groundout moved Dicesare down to third, catcher Matt Padeway (Salisbury) singled to right, driving in DiCesare and stretching the lead to 2-0. On a full count pitch, Brady Ryan mashed a change-up off of the left-centerfield fence for a triple, scoring Padeway’s courtesy runner to make the lead 3-0. A wild pitch allowed Ryan to score. After a strikeout, Christian Pitura reached on a throwing error, putting him on second base. Senior designated hitter Ryan Krueger singled to left and scored Pitura, giving the Chargers a 5-0 lead after the first half inning.

Wagner took the mound in the bottom of the first with that nice cushion, and fired a four pitch inning. The top of the second started a lot like the first, with Enders drawing a walk. This time he stole second before DiCesare singled to drive him in and stretch the lead to 6-0. DiCesare also stole second and moved to third on a groundout. He scored the seventh Chantilly run when Ryan reached on a strikeout wild pitch. Wagner fired another perfect bottom of the second, this time straining himself and throwing nine pitches.

After Krueger led the third off with single to left, Battlefield went to the bullpen, bringing in senior James Beasley. Beasley got a pair of strikeouts before DiCesare came up and stroked an RBI triple to right, his third hit of the night and third RBI, extending the Chantilly lead to 8-0.

The Bobcats managed to muster some offense in the bottom of the third, with designate hitter Sam Scott drawing a leadoff walk and freshman second baseman Zach Agnos ripping a single through the left side of the infield. Wagner got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and send the game to the fourth inning.

Beasley worked a perfect top half of the fourth inning, putting up Battlefield’s first zero, and the Bobcats came to the plate looking to get a comeback rolling. Catcher Tyler Solomon (Vanderbilt) reached to start the inning when a chopper in the hole was bobbled by the shortstop, and then senior Brady Harju deposited a home run over the right-centerfield fence to get the Bobcats on the board. Wagner issued a one out walk, but otherwise got through the inning without any more damage. 

At this point, the two pitchers took over the game. Beasley did not allow a baserunner after the third inning, retiring the final thirteen Chargers. Wagner would allow a single in the fifth to Jake Agnos (East Carolina) and a pair of hits to the Agnos boys with two outs in the seventh, which scored another Battlefield run, but otherwise Wagner shut the game down and Chantilly celebrated its second 6A North Region Championship in the last three seasons.

For the Bobcats, McGinnis took the loss going 2+ IP, 8 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K. Beasley went 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 7 K. Zach Agnos was 2-2 with a R. Jake Agnos was 2-2 with an RBI. Harju was 1-3 with a HR and 2 RBI. Battlefield will play 6A South Region Champion C.D. Hylton on Friday in the State Semifinals at Robinson.

For the Chargers, Wagner earned the win with a CG, 7 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K while also going 1-4 at the plate. Enders was 0-2 with 2 BB, 2 R, and a SB. DiCesare was 3-4, a home run short of the Cycle, 2 R, SB, and 3 RBIs. Krueger was 2-3 with a run. Chantilly will play Cosby in Friday’s State Semifinals at Robinson.