C-Train, Broad Run Keep Rolling

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Seven games into their 2008 season, the Broad Run Spartans are clicking on all cylinders.

Their pitching has been dominant; they’ve allowed three runs or fewer in six of seven outings. The hitting has been equally impressive; the Spartans have scored 10 or more runs in six straight contests. And only two games into their AA Dulles District regular season schedule, they still have plenty of time to improve.

Broad Run (6-1, 2-0 AA Dulles) continued its hot start to the season with an 11-1 five-inning home win against Freedom-South Riding on Tuesday. Senior ace Cole Shain turned in another strong performance, allowing one run on five hits while striking out five Eagles and the Spartans’ lineup continued its torrid start to back him up. Broad Run did its damage on seven hits and six walks while stealing nine bases. But while the string of complete performances to start to 2008 campaign might lead some teams to get complacent, the Spartans know they can’t afford to let that happen to them -- not after last season.

“Last year we started 5-0 and then we lost five in a row and that put us back into reality,” Shain said. “That’s always in the back of our minds. We’re not going to let that happen because this year is something very special. We’ve got to keep playing like we’ve been playing. We’ve had good practices every day of the week. There’s really no room for slacking where we want to go.”

C-Train, as the name on the bill of Shain's burgundy cap reads, allowed Freedom’s only run during a three-hit second inning, but limited the damage with two strikeouts. Shain (3-0) was locked in on the strike zone and made efficient use of his pitches, needing only 52 in five innings' work and throwing 37 of those for strikes. The lefty also picked off Freedom’s Dustin McIntosh at first in the fourth inning -- one of several base-running miscues by the Eagles (2-3, 0-2) on the night.

“We did have some good at-bats and we hit the ball pretty well against him early in the game, but we didn’t run the base paths too well,” Freedom coach Chris Bourassa said. “He’s probably got the best move in Northern Virginia. He mixes up his moves to home, he goes knee-to-knee, he slide-steps, he’s just a very good fundamental pitcher and we can’t make those kinds of mistakes against a pitcher like him and think we’re going to compete with a good team like Broad Run.”

Senior third baseman J.P. Devlin and junior short stop Chris Jessop both had two RBIs for the Spartans, who scored once in the first inning but broke the game open with a five-run outburst one inning later. All nine Broad Run starters reached base at least once, and Jessop, Andrew Mann and Billy Rocca each had two stolen bases in the rout. Second baseman Trey Brocke nearly blasted his second home run of the season, but his drive to left field bounced off the bottom of the wall for an RBI double.

“I think Trey’s ball that he hit to the fence was the only ball we’ve hit to the fence all year -- other than his home run at the beach,” Broad Run coach Pat Cassidy said. “We’re not a power team. We’re going to hit for average, we’re going to run the bases. We’re trying to run on every team in the league if we can. Sometimes we run on the pitcher, sometimes on the catcher, but we’re going to run the bases.”

Sophomore starter Anthony Perez was on the receiving end of Broad Run’s offensive onslaught, but the young righty showed his potential after the rocky second inning, settling in to seven of the next eight batters he faced. Perez kept the ball in the infield for the most part and were it not for several fielding errors committed by his defense, the game could have been much closer.

“He actually threw a really good game,” Bourassa said. “I think if we’d have played well behind him they probably would’ve scored four runs. It probably should’ve been a 4-2 game or something like that. But he’s a good young player for us. He’s a sophomore and he’s going to be a good pitcher for us for the next few years.”

Junior first baseman Kyle Severns went 2-for-2 with two singles against Shain and scored Freedom’s only run of the game. The Eagles host another youthful squad Friday when Briar Woods travels to South Riding while Broad Run visits Heritage.

“It’s early, and we’re 2-0 in the league but we don’t have any reason to be complacent,” Cassidy said. “There’s probably a couple other teams in the league that are 2-0 after tonight. We’re off to a good start but we’re a third of the way through the year, so we better not sit on our hands or we’ll be in big trouble.”

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks