Stone Bridge's Baseball Season Ends

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Friday, May 22, 2009

Johnny Bladel stat motionless in a chair beside the top step of the Stone Bridge dugout, staring blankly into the outfield grass as the lights in the stadium went off. The Bulldogs' senior pitcher left everything on the field in Friday's Virginia AAA Northern Region first-round game against Chantilly, but despite his efforts, he couldn't make the season, and his illustrious career at Stone Bridge, continue.

Chantilly senior ace John Colella pitched a masterpiece, shutting down the Bulldogs' offense in a complete game, near no-hitter. And the Chargers did just enough at the plate and behind their pitcher in the field to hold off their opponents late for a 3-2 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Bladel was nearly as effective as his counterpart, mixing his pitches well and working around trouble for most of the evening. But after giving up a single to Chantilly shortstop Danny Bates in the top of the first, he left a pitch out over the plate and Brian King made him pay. The Chargers' senior first baseman crushed Bladel's offering over the left-field fence to give Chantilly a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish.

"I knew that first-inning home run was going to make it tough because I knew how good their pitcher was going to be," Stone Bridge Coach Sam Plank said. "But I thought we battled back and gave ourselves a chance to win."

Colella was brilliant in the early going. Through the first four frames he had a no-hitter going, allowing only two runners to reach base – one on a first-inning walk and the other on an error. When the Bulldogs (17-6) finally broke through for their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, it was the result of two infield errors, not Colella's work on the mound.

"I'm really nervous before every game," Colella said. "To get that run support, I could just relax and not have to worry about throwing a shutout or trying to strike every guy out."

After senior designated hitter Patrick Thompson was hit with a pitch with two outs, senior shortstop Pat Piccolo hit a ball of the end of his bat to third, which Chantilly’s Nick Kralles dove for and nearly caught. But he bobbled the ball getting back to his feet and then threw the ball well wide of first base, allowing Thompson to reach third while Piccolo ended up at second. Spenser Rositano hit the very next pitch to Kralles, who tried to get Thompson at the plate but threw the ball high to the backstop. Thompson scored and Chantilly's lead was cut to 2-1.

The Chargers (17-5) got one back in the top of the sixth on an RBI single from Jamie Danehower, but then Bladel – the Northern Region Co-Player of the Year – responded at the plate in the bottom half of the inning.

Colella left a pitch up to the right-handed slugger and Bladel hammered it high over the left-field fence, firing up his team and the fans and bringing the Bulldogs back within one.

"He killed that ball," Plank said. "He's been great for us all year."

But Colella struck out two of the next three hitters he faced to end the sixth. Following a leadoff walk to junior Michael Mattingly to start the seventh, Thompson smashed a pitch just short of the wall in right field but didn't get quite enough of it to give Stone Bridge a walk-off victory. Colella then struck out Piccolo and Rositano swinging to end the game.

"Last time Bladel, (J.J.) White and (Taylor) Lambke all killed us," Colella said. "I was especially careful with all three of them, particularly Bladel. Everyone knows how good he is and how he can change a game with a swing of a bat. Luckily there was no one on base when he hit that one. It was minimal damage.

"Off the bat I thought (Thompson's hit) was a flyball, but I looked back and it kept going back and I thought it might go out. My heart's still beating from that one."

Chantilly’s ace allowed just two hits on the night and only saw four balls leave the infield as he kept his pitches down in the zone and consciously worked around the heart of the Bulldogs’ lineup. He issued two walks, hit one batter and struck out nine. Bladel, White and Lambke, the three-through-five hitters for the Bulldogs combined to go one for eight with three strikeouts.

"He's a great pitcher and he keeps the ball down and away," Plank said. "It's frustrating because you hit so many balls hard and some nights they go right at people. The game-winning hit was a seeing-eye single between the first and second basemen."

Bates went three for three with a walk and a run scored and King’s two-run homer led the way for the Chargers who advance to face T.C. Williams – an upset winner over National District top seed Yorktown – in Monday's quarterfinals.

Bladel went the distance, scattering seven hits while walking four and striking out seven as the Bulldogs ended another strong campaign short of their goal of reaching the state tournament. They’ll lose the core of their rotation and several key cogs from their lineup to graduation, but Plank expects to have another competitive team in 2010, ready to battle for the Liberty District crown.

"To have that magical season, you've got to have a couple balls bounce your way," Plank said. "You look at any team that gets through any region or state tournament and there's a couple games where they could have gone either way and they got that ball to bounce their way. It comes down to someone has to get a big hit if you want to win games. The teams that win get those hits. We had a couple chances tonight, but we just didn't come through."

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks