Follow @PBRVirginiaDC
By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Centreville-The long running rivalry between Chantilly and Centreville saw another chapter penned Thursday evening as the Chargers travelled to the Wildcats for a Concorde Conference matchup. Chantilly sent senior Jared DiCesare (George Mason) to the mound and the Wildcats went with their ace, senior Carter Bach (Wake Forest).

The Chargers loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first on a DiCesare single and a pair of Wildcat errors, but Bach was able to get a double play ball to end the threat. In the bottom of the first, Centreville senior shortstop Ryan Brusick opened the inning with a sharp single to right. After being bunted down to second and advancing to third on a ball that got away at the plate, senior rightfielder Alex Simmons drove in Brusick with a groundout to second, and the first inning ended with Centreville leading, 1-0.

The second inning came and went quietly as both pitchers worked around a single to put up a scoreless frame. For velocities and scouting information on Bach and DiCesare, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog early next week. The Chargers would benefit from two more Centreville errors in the top of the third, putting runners on the corners with one out for senior shortstop Brett Norwood. Norwood hammered a sacrifice fly to leftfield, tying the game at one. Bach ended the scoring there and DiCesare fired a perfect third.

Both pitchers worked scoreless fourth innings as well, and the game was moving along quickly at this point, with the score still Chantilly 1, Centreville 1. The top of the fourth got started with Charger junior second baseman Chris Pitura singling into the hole at short. After Pitura advanced to second on a wild pitch, Jared Enders got a bunt down, trying to sacrifice the runner down to third. Bach fielded the ball cleanly and tried to get the lead runner, to no avail, setting up Chantilly with two on and no out. That brought up DiCesare, who picked up his second hit of the night with a double to deep right center, making the score 2-1. Norwood then struck out, but reached base on a dropped third strike to load the bases. Senior catcher Matt Padeway (Salisbury) broke the game open with a two run single to center, ending Bach’s night. 

The Wildcats turned to junior lefty Carter Egbers, who allowed another run to score on a groundout, but stopped the bleeding with the score Chantilly 5, Centreville 1. After Centreville got their leadoff hitter on base on an error in the bottom of the fifth, DiCesare got a strikeout and a double play to quickly end the fifth.

The Chargers would add two more runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. DiCesare would finish the game, allowing just one baserunner in the last two innings and tossing a perfect seventh to seal the victory and finish his complete game.

For Chantilly, DiCesare picked up the win with a complete game, allowing 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, and 4 K. DiCesare was also 2-3 with a 2B, SB, RBI, BB, and 2 runs scored at the plate. Norwood finished 0-2, with 2 RBI, 2 SAC, HBP, and 2 runs scored. Padeway went 2-4 with 3 RBI and a HBP. The Chargers are now 11-2 on the season and 5-0 in Concorde play. They return to action with a non-conference game Monday night at Battlefield before hosting Concorde Conference opponents Westfield and Robinson Tuesday and Friday.

For Centreville, Bach took the loss, working 4 IP, 5 R, 6 H, and 2 K. Offensively for the Wildcats, Brusick went 1-3 with a run scored and Simmons went 1-3 with a 2B, and an RBI. The Wildcats return to action next week on Tuesday as they host Robinson and then travel to Oakton on Friday.