May 24 - When the 6A North Region Tournament begins play tomorrow night, as many as 10 of the 16 teams will start senior pitchers who will take the mound for Division I schools next year, according to participating coaches when reached today.
In perhaps the most intriguing of the eight match-ups, each of which are hosted at the higher seed beginning at 7 p.m., No. 2 Chantilly will host West Potomac.
Coach Kevin Ford and the Chargers, who are coming off their second straight 6A Conference 5 title and were region and state finalists a year ago, will give the ball to George Mason University signee Jared DiCesare, the conference’s Player of the Year. The Wolverines will counter with 6-foot-4, 220-pound Jamie Sara, a College of William & Mary signee who struck out 17 in a one-hit shutout of W.T. Woodson in last week’s 6A Conference 7 quarterfinals.
“Chantilly is definitely going to be quite a challenge and with a 19-2 record they definitely know how to win,” West Potomac coach Jim Sullivan said. “Hopefully, we can put it all together and pull off an upset. In any case, I expect our team to battle.”
Another match-up to watch in the bottom half of the region’s bracket is McLean senior left-handed Jon Clines (Virginia Military Institute), the 6A Conference 6 Player of the Year, against Osbourn Park junior Kyle Whitten (Virginia) or Yellow Jackets sophomore Jimmy Baumstark, a first-team all-conference pick and one of the top underclass pitchers in the area.
The other two match-ups in the bottom bracket include Patriot senior Austin Gerber (Radford) against Washington-Lee senior Teddy Herbert (Washington-Lee), and No. 6 Lake Braddock’s senior Wade Strain (William & Mary), the 6A Conference 7 Pitcher of the Year, against Robinson senior Tyler Jumper (Christopher Newport). Strain had a 46-inning scoreless streak earlier this spring for the Bruins, who repeated as conference champions last week.
A couple uncertainties exist in in the top half of the bracket, including with defending region and state champion Madison. The No. 1 Warhawks, the 6A Conference 6 champions, were unsure as of today whether they would start senior lefty Matt Favero (Brigham Young), the Co-Pitcher of the Year in their conference, or senior Noz Honda, according to coach Mark ‘Pudge’ Gjormand. Favero has come up big for the Warhawks in past postseason games, pitching Madison past Chantilly in last year's region final, then hitting a walk-off base hit to beat the Chargers in the state final.
The Warhawks' opponent, Osbourn, will give the ball to George Mason signee Michael Taylor.
Centreville will start senior lefty Carter Bach (Wake Forest), the Co-Pitcher of the Year in 6A Conference 5, against Annandale, with the Atoms countering with senior Colin Corey (Lynchburg). No. 5 West Springfield (18-4) will send out junior Jake Williams against Westfield, which Bulldogs coach Rob Hahne said will counter with either senior lefty Brady Ingham or junior lefty Antonio Buckley.
No. 3 Battlefield will rest its hopes of a deep postseason run on perhaps the best arm in the tournament field in senior lefty Jake Agnos (East Carolina), the 6A Conference 8 Player of the Year. Agnos will match-up with a young, but talented sophomore in South Lakes’ Josh Taylor. The Seahawks faced the Bobcats in last year’s quarterfinal round, though they didn’t see Agnos, who has piled up 100 strikeouts in 44 innings this spring and has fanned 229 over the past two seasons.
“Our guys are very excited about the opportunity to travel to Battlefield and compete against one of the best teams in the state,” South Lakes coach Morgan Spencer said. “It will be a great challenge for our young guys to get out on the field and compete against a kid who’s going to be drafted next month. He’s obviously as good as anyone in the area.
“That said, this team is full of tough kids who are going to go out there and give it everything they’ve got.”
Following tomorrow’s opening round, winners will advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, with the semifinals being held on Tuesday and the championship game next Friday.
6A North Region First Round Pitching Match-ups:
Madison (19-3): Senior LHP Matt Favero: 6-2, 2.04 ERA or Senior RHP Noz Honda: 7-0, 0.69 ERA - vs - Osbourn (7-12): Senior LHP Michael Taylor: 5-4, 2.54 ERA Centreville (11-10): Senior LHP Carter Bach: 6-3, 0.88 ERA - vs - Annandale (14-8): Senior RHP Colin Corey: 6-0, 1.15 ERA West Springfield (18-4): Junior RHP Jake Williams: 5-0, 4 saves, 0.47 ERA - vs - Westfield (13-8): Senior LHP Brady Ingham: 4-2, 1.30 ERA or Junior LHP Antonio Buckley: 4-0, 2.95 ERA Battlefield (19-3): Senior LHP Jake Agnos: 8-0, 0.44 ERA - vs - South Lakes (13-9): Sophomore RHP Josh Taylor: 6-1, 1.52 ERA Chantilly (19-2): Senior RHP Jared DiCesare: 8-0, 0.53 ERA - vs - West Potomac (11-11): Senior RHP Jamie Sara: 4-3, 2.74 ERA McLean (15-8): Senior LHP Jon Clines: 6-3, 1.60 ERA - vs - Osbourn Park (8-11): Junior RHP Kyle Whitten: 2-4, 2.47 ERA or Sophomore RHP Jimmy Baumstark: 5-3, 1.01 ERA Patriot (13-8): Senior RHP Austin Gerber: 5-3, 2.27 ERA - vs - Washington-Lee (11-11): Senior RHP Teddy Herbert: 4-2, 2 saves, 2.02 ERA Lake Braddock (17-5): Senior RHP Wade Strain: 8-1, 0.36 ERA - vs - Robinson (11-11): Senior RHP Tyler Jumper: 4-4, 1.92 ERA
Photos of Chantilly's Jared DiCesare, Lake Braddock's Wade Strain and Battlefield's Jake Agnos courtesy of their respective programs
