VA/DC Scout Blog: Forest Park at Colgan 6/2
June 4, 2021
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Wednesday night saw the 2021 regular season begin to wind down as Forest Park took on Cardinal District rival and No. 5 Charles Colgan. Colgan has clinched the District championship, but Forest Park is in a battle for the final Region 6B Tournament berth from the District. Forest Park started senior righthander Nathan Williams and Colgan went with junior righty Ryan Kennedy (Virginia Tech).
Kennedy worked around a one out single to put up a scoreless first and then the Colgan bats got to work. Sophomore Brett Renfrow (Virginia Tech) singled to center with one out and then senior CJ Faulkenberry (Longwood) singled to left to put two runners on. A double steal moved both runners into scoring position, and with the infield drawn in, junior Connor Knox hit a sharp one hopper that went off the second basemen and brought in both runners. After stealing second himself, Knox was driven in by a Kennedy single to right, giving the Sharks an early 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, a Jae'dan Carter single and a Brandon Cassedy walk runners on the corners with two outs. After Cassedy moved to second, Renfrow picked up his second hit of the game, singling sharply down the leftfield line and driving both runners in to give Colgan a 5-0 lead after two innings.
In the top of the third, Forest Park got a little two-out thunder of their own going. Kennedy struck out the first two hitters of the inning and then hit Sean Pokorak with a pitch. Junior Jack Pokorak then launched a monster double off of the base of the centerfield fence, driving in the Bruins' first run of the game. Owen Frye was up next and hit a ball sharply to short which got through the infield and brought home a second run, cutting the Colgan lead to 5-2. Colgan would extend the lead back to 6-2 in the bottom of the third, scoring on errant pickoff throw.
Forest Park's offense got rolling again with two outs in the top of the fourth. After a single and a walk, Colgan went to the bullpen and brought in Knox, who loaded the bases with a walk and then got into a full count against Jack Pokorak, who launched a second monster double to deep center, this time clearing the bases and cutting the Colgan lead to 6-5.
At this point, the game changed a bit and sped up significantly. Williams worked a quick and quiet fourth inning. Knox did the same in the top of the fifth. Colgan added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Faulkenberry walked, stole second, and then scored when the throw on his stolen base attempt got away. Knox was in control after the three-run double, retiring the final ten hitters of the game and locking up a 7-5 Colgan victory, keeping the Sharks unbeaten on the season.
For Colgan, Kennedy went 3.2 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB while also going 2-3 with an RBI at the plate. Knox went 3.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 5 K, 1 BB and was 1-3 with 2 RBIs at the plate. Renfrow was also 2-3 with 2 RBIs, Carter was 1-2 with a BB, and Faulkenberry was 1-2 with a BB and 2 SBs.
For Forest Park, Williams battled and went 5.1 IP, 7 R, 6 H, 5 K, 5 BBs and John Pokorak was 2-4 with 2 2Bs and 4 RBIs. Junior Andrew Cheripka was 1-3 and also went 0.2 IP, striking out both batters he faced.