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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Chantilly-Wednesday night saw the first round the 6A North Region Tournament in Fairfax and Prince William Counties as sixteen teams took the field to begin the march toward the State Tournament at Robinson. Concorde Conference Champion No. 14 Chantilly hosted West Potomac in the first round in what was a marquee pitching matchup. The Chargers sent ace Jared DiCesare (George Mason) to the mound and the Wolverines countered with their own senior ace, Jamie Sara (William & Mary), to the mound.

The story of the first three innings and really the story of the entire game was the two pitchers. Both worked quickly through their first trip through the order, Sara got a lot of groundouts early in the count while allowing one hit but facing the minimum through three. DiCesare allowed hits in each the first two innings, but no other damage as he piled up four strikeouts in his first inning of work, showing the ability to attack a wide strike zone at its edges. For velocities and scouting information on Sara and DiCesare, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog later this week.

In the top of the fourth, Sara led the inning off with his second double of the game. His courtesy runner would move down to third with two outs on a groundout. Senior designated hitter Daniel Jimenez singled to right with two outs to drive in the run and put West Potomac up 1-0 in the middle of the fourth.

The bottom of the fourth, Chantilly leadoff hitter Jared Enders (Holy Cross) reached to start the inning when a pop-up was dropped behind the infield. He would get to third when catcher Matt Padeway (Salisbury) reached on an infield single with two outs. Enders would then score to tie the game on a passed ball as Brady Ryan drew a full count walk. Through four, the game was tied at one.

That inning caused something to click for Sara, as his breaking ball went up another notch, and he went on a stretch where he struck out eight out of eleven batters starting with the last out of the fourth inning through the end of the seventh.

The top of the sixth inning saw the Wolverines mount a big threat as they attempted to retake the lead. Patrick Aitken doubled to left-center to start the inning and Sara was intentionally walked. After the runners were successfully bunted to second and third, Sam Meyer was able to draw a walk to load the bases with one out. DiCesare was able to strike out Jimenez to get the second out. The next hitter, Matt Gill, hit a line drive back up the box that DiCesare caught with his bare hand, robbing a sure base hit and saving two runs to end the inning.

DiCesare worked a perfect seventh and top of the eighth as the game extended into extra innings. The bottom of the eighth was an interesting inning, to say the least.

With Sara at 102 pitches, West Potomac chose to go to the pen, bringing in senior Gus Leyden. Leyden issued a leadoff walk to John Imperial to start the inning, and Garrett Snedeker did his job, bunting Imperial down to second. Enders popped up on the infield for the second out, bringing up George Mason-bound DiCesare, who lined a single to left. Imperial rounded third hard and was stopped late by Chantilly’s third base coach, causing him to fall down. The throw from left was cut off and Imperial was able just barely scamper back to third safely before being tagged out. DiCesare hustled around to second.

Shortstop Brett Norwood drew a walk to load the bases, and the West Potomac coach came out for a mound visit. This was his second visit of the inning, and he was forced by the umpires to make an immediate pitching change. With no one loose, he brought back in Sara with the bases loaded and two outs. Sara was able to strike out Padeway to end the threat and send the game to the ninth.

DiCesare allowed another hit to Jimenez in the ninth, but Padeway threw him out stealing to end the inning and keep the score tied at one headed to the bottom of the ninth.

Again, Sara was relieved, this time in favor of senior Brandon Floyd. Sam Ryan singled to left to start the inning and was bunted down to second. Sophomore Christian Parana was sent out to pinch run for Ryan as the winning run at second. Floyd got his second out with a pop out behind the plate and then hit Imperial in the shoulder with a pitch to put two on with two outs for Snedeker. Snedeker lined a single up the middle, and Parana was able to slide home safely as the throw from centerfield was high and off target and the Chargers slid by the Wolverines and into the 6A North quarterfinals.

For West Potomac, Sara threw 7 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 K while going 2-2 with 2 2Bs, a run and a BB. Leyden threw 2/3 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB. Floyd took the loss, going 2/3 IP, R, 2 H, HBP. Offensively, Meyer went 1-3 with a BB. Jimenez was 2-4 with an RBI. Aitken was 1-4 with a 2B.

For Chantilly, DiCesare earned the win, throwing a 9 IP CG, 1 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 12 K while also going 1-3 at the plate with a sacrifice. Padeway was 1-4. Ryan was 1-3 with a BB. Imperial was 0-2 with a BB, and a HBP. Snedekar was 1-3 with a sacrifice and an RBI. The Chargers will host McLean on Friday night at 7 pm in the Region quarterfinals.