Potomac Falls Beats Loudoun Co.

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Four nights after Potomac Falls senior ace Jake Kline went the distance in a 4-2 victory over Heritage in the Panthers' season opener, the second half of arguably the best one-two punch in the Virginia AA Dulles District delivered a dominating performance in the team's home opener against Loudoun County on Tuesday night.

With consistent strikes and strong defense behind him, senior Michael Detaranto pitched five scoreless innings and the Panthers took advantage of 13 walks from Loudoun County pitchers to rout the Raiders, 10-0, in six innings.

Detaranto set the tone early, inducing fly ball outs from the first four batters he faced and not allowing a hit until a single by opposing pitcher Kris Pratt in the third inning. He scattered four hits over five innings, striking out one, walking three and never allowing a runner to advance beyond second base. Senior Eric Dimsey, whom the Panthers hope can become a reliable No. 3, closed out the game with a one-two-three sixth inning.

"Mike came out with a lot of poise and a lot of determination and did a great job tonight," Potomac Falls Coach Joe Terango said. "There's no reason why he and Jake can't go the distance each night of the week, however we have a few other pitchers that we like to give an opportunity to. Mike was ready to finish the game but we wanted to get Eric a couple innings this evening."

After they were held to just four runs in Friday's opener, the Panther hitters were hot from start to finish, posting runs in five of their six at-bats. Senior shortstop Rob Malan got things started with a one-out double to right, driving in lead-off hitter Ben Sweger for the first run of the game. After stealing third base, Malan crossed the plate on senior catcher Mike Spring’s RBI groundout and the Panthers held a 2-0 lead after one.

Malan started the scoring again in the third after reaching on a bunt and an errant throw from third baseman Tyler Selack. Kline doubled him in and then scored on a bases-loaded walk to Detaranto. Potomac Falls opened it up in the six when Malan and Spring hit back-to-back doubles and sophomore Matt Rubino scored the seventh run of the game on a wild pitch from Raiders reliever Austin Campbell.

The Panthers got two more in the fifth on two passed balls and the game ended when sophomore Ryan Miller blasted a double to right center field to score Andrew Coyle, giving Potomac Falls a mercy-rule victory.

"I think they're the preseason favorite and I think they showed that tonight," Loudoun County Coach Tom Lucero said. "They didn't have too many mistakes out there. They're a veteran team."

Detaranto was relatively unchallenged during his five innings, allowing three runners to reach scoring position but quickly ending those threats by getting hitters to put the ball in the air or on the ground where his infielders could make a play on it. Dimsey flashed his leather at second base, tagging Pratt in the base path and throwing to first for a double play and Malan made a nice scoop and throw on the run in the fourth to get Chris DeMarco with a runner on second and two outs. Detaranto got nine of his 15 outs via fly balls.

"I felt pretty good out there," Detaranto said. "I left it up a little, but I got outs. I like ground balls more, but at this field it's nice to get some fly balls because we've got a big field."

Sophomore shortstop J.J. Levan had two hits and Pratt reached twice on a double and a walk as the Raiders left seven men on base. Pratt started for the Raiders and was effective at times but struggled with his control for most of the night. In 3 1/3 innings he allowed seven runs – five earned – on four hits with three strikeouts and six walks. Campbell had even more trouble finding the strike zone, walking seven batters and giving up three runs – one earned – in two innings of work. He allowed two hits and had two wild pitches that resulted in runs.

"I tried to warn our guys coming in that we had to play near-perfect baseball," Lucero said. "We had too many walks and just struggled offensively tonight."

Malan led the Panthers, going 2 for 4 with two doubles, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Spring had two RBIs and Sweger scored twice and stole a base.

After dropping two games in two days, the Raiders will look to bounce back at Dominion on Friday night while Potomac Falls visits Sterling rivals Park View.

"It's always a tough game at Park View," Terango said. "It doesn't matter what kind of team they've had in the past, it doesn't matter what kind of team we've had in the past. When we go to Park View it's always a close game, so we expect it to be a close game on Friday."

Park View 2, Heritage 1: In other Dulles District action, Bobby Mason shut down Heritage's hitters as Park View (1-3, 1-2) won for the first time this season, 2-1. Trey Reed went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs – one earned – on eight hits while striking out five and walking three for the Pride (0-3, 0-2) who failed to give him enough run support to get his team in the win column.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks