Baseball: Lake Braddock Advances to Semifinals

In a high-scoring second round of the Northern Region baseball tournament, Lake Braddock escaped a late-game upset from the rallying Cougars with a 13-12 victory Monday.

The Bruins broke the game wide open in the third inning, scoring nine runs, three unearned, on eight hits — including a grand slam from right fielder Ryan Owens

Entering the third, the Bruins were down 1-0 after Oakton's Chris Hanson drove in Chad Carroll in the first inning for the first run of the game.

The rally started with designated hitter Mitch Spille, who hit a ground ball single to center field with one out in the inning. Then a double from Alex Gransback put runners at second and third, which allowed Spille to score when Thomas Rogers' hit to first base was bobbled, tying the game at 1-1.

Kenny Towns' single to right field scored another run and put runners on first and third, and the Cougars decided to intentionally walk Andrew Weidinger to load the bases. On the first pitch, Owens knocked it out of the park, putting the Bruins up 6-1. After Michael Quinteros followed up with a double to center field, the Cougars relieved starting pitcher Taiyo Francis with shortstop Chad Carroll.

But the inning kept going. Carroll hit the first batter he faced, then gave up an RBI double to Alex Lewis. The Cougars got their first out in nine batters throwing out Garett Driscoll at home on a fielder's choice. And still, the Bruins kept their rally going. Gransback hit an RBI single, which was followed by an RBI double from Rogers, which scored the last Bruins run of the inning. The Bruins were up 9-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

The Cougars took back one of those runs with a fielder's choice RBI from Hanson in the bottom of the third. But the Bruins just answered with two more runs in the fourth on a home run from Quinteros and another run in the fifth off an RBI single from Dylan O'Connor for a score of 12-2.

"In these elimination games you're never really comfortable until the seventh inning is over," said Jody Rutherford, Lake Braddock's head coach. "I was telling my coaches this is the most uncomfortable I've ever been with a 10-run lead. They're a good team."

And for good reason. The Cougars have made a habit of coming from behind to win games, with the last comeback win Saturday to advance to the second round of the regional tournament.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars showed once again they wouldn't go down easy. They scored seven runs of their own — with RBIs coming off the bats of John Titus, Aaron Rochkind, Austin Lamon, Joey Bartosic and Carroll — to bring the score to 12-9.

In the middle of the Cougars' rally, the Bruins relieved starting pitcher Michael Church with Rogers, but Rutherford was happy with how far Church took them, especially considering he had started for them in their last game.

"We were going to pitch someone else, but he got sick. He did a really good job for us," Rutherford said. "He started leaving the ball up about the fourth or fifth inning, so we adjusted."

In the top of the seventh inning, Rogers hit an RBI line drive single as an insurance run for the Bruins. An insurance run that would pay off.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Hanson hit a two-out, three-run double to bring the Cougars within one run of tying the game. But the rally would not continue this time, as a groundout ended the inning and the game with the Bruins victorious.

Lake Braddock will face Stone Bridge at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Robinson Secondary School in the Northern Region semifinal game. The winner will face the winner of the South County vs. Madison game in the Northern Region Championship game.

"I think we're ready to play anybody. I'm confident we can stand up to any team in this region," Rutherford said.

Bruins stats

Hits: Kenny Towns (three singles, double), Mitch Spille (two singles), Alex Gransback (double, single), Ryan Owens (home run), Michael Quinteros (double, home run), Alex Lewis (double), Thomas Rogers (double, single), Dylan O'Connor (single)
RBI: Owens (4), Quinteros (2), Rogers (2), Towns (1), Lewis (1), Gransback (1)