High School Sports Scene



Baseball Teams Battle for Position Before Tourney

Matt Brooks at 2:13 p.m., May 10, 2008

With only seven games left in the Virginia AA Dulles District baseball regular season, there are still plenty of questions to be answered.

Either Potomac Falls or Broad Run will take home the regular-season crown and earn the top seed in the district tournament. Unless the visiting Panthers complete the season sweep in tomorrow’s game in Ashburn, the top two spots will be up in the air until the completion of Tuesday’s games.

Things get even more complicated behind the two front-runners, as three teams could finish anywhere between third and fifth.

Here’s a look at some of the scenarios involving the top five teams in the district before the league tournament gets underway Friday.

Potomac Falls

The formula is simple for the Panthers: Beat Broad Run in Ashburn tomorrow and the Dulles District title is theirs. Potomac Falls (13-5, 10-2) earned that right by putting together a dominant regular season highlighted by a 2-1 home victory over the Spartans last month.

If the Panthers can complete the season sweep, they’ll own the tiebreaker over Broad Run, and their result in Tuesday’s home finale against Briar Woods will be inconsequential. Last week’s rainout also helped Potomac Falls Coach Joe Terango, who planned to start junior ace Jake Kline on only three days’ rest. Instead, Kline — who pitched nine innings in a victory at Dominion last Monday — will be fully rested heading into his second matchup with lefty Cole Shain.

“I told the guys, ‘You’ve worked yourselves into an opportunity to play for a championship here,’ ” Terango said.

Broad Run

The Spartans didn’t take their loss to the Panthers on April 15 too well, and they’ve been rolling ever since, to the tune of seven straight victories in which they’ve outscored opponents 72-9.

Broad Run (15-3, 10-2) needs to beat Potomac Falls tomorrow and Dominion on Tuesday to lock up the regular-season title and the top seed in the district tournament. If the Spartans beat Potomac Falls and lose to the Titans (assuming the Panthers beat Briar Woods on Tuesday), it will force a tie at the top and a possible one-game playoff. Any other scenario would result in Potomac Falls taking the crown.

The Rest of the Field

Dominion, Park View and Heritage are all battling for third place or at least the final first-round tournament home game awarded to the fourth seed. The Titans (11-7, 7-5) have the inside track with a one-game lead but face the toughest schedule, with a visit to Heritage and their season finale at home against Broad Run.

What’s worse, their once-deep pitching staff will likely be missing its ace until the tournament. Junior No. 1 Chris Taylor strained his back in a win over Park View on May 2 and aggravated the injury in a relief effort in last Monday’s 5-2 nine-inning loss to Potomac Falls.

Coach Jay Raines had hoped to use senior Geoff McCowat — who has been stellar in recent outings — on Friday and Tuesday, but with the rain forcing back-to-back games, the Titans will have to turn to juniors Ryan Skeffington and Austin Behr for some help.

If Dominion wins out, it will lock up third place. It can also take third with a split in the last two and a loss by Park View in one of its final two games.

Park View and Heritage are tied for fourth, one game behind the Titans, and both teams have great opportunities to grab a top-four seed. The Patriots (10-8, 6-6) appear to have the easier path, with a game at Briar Woods tomorrow and their home finale against Freedom on Tuesday. They split the season series with Dominion and Heritage, which means they have a shot at third place.

Heritage (7-11, 6-6) is in a similar spot, needing to win out to have a shot at third, while two losses could drop it into sixth. The Pride gets Dominion at home in a crucial game for both. Heritage also has a 9-3 win over its final opponent, the Loudoun County Raiders, and therefore has a solid chance to finish in the top four and get a first-round home game.

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