Albemarle and King George play tonight at Albemarle High for first place in District 12.

Long before the Saints embarked on what equated into a 16-win campaign this season that stretched into the state semifinals, Swanson had told school officials that he would not be returning for the upcoming academic year.

In Spotsylvania, Tyler Marshall and Sean Sweeney combined for a two-hit shutout as Albemarle Post 74 defeated Courtland Post 55 12-0 on Friday night.

In the tenth inning, trailing by one run, the Albemarle offense rallied once more, and after Ryan Hughes drove in the tying run, Patrick Collins drove in Daniel Haugh to win the game, 5-4.

The 2008 All-Central Virginia Baseball team has been announced. 

It was a serendipitous twist of fate that brought the 2008 All-Central Virginia baseball coach of the year together with his overachieving Albemarle team. And while the Patriots’ season ended on their bus rather than on the diamond, the foundation is set for a return trip to the state tournament.

The countless hours of practice paid off — Kyle Long was named the 2008 Central Virginia baseball player of the year after dominating in two-way fashion.

Kenny Fleming didn’t begin his baseball career like a seasoned veteran. He started off like any other rookie — nearly clueless.

On Tuesday, Albemarle’s baseball team drove away from its Virginia High School League state tournament quarterfinal down 5-4 in the middle of the fifth inning to defending Group AAA champion James River. The Patriots left with the assurance they’d be back Wednesday for a chance to rally and extend their season.

Albemarle High filed a formal appeal at 10:30 a.m. today on behalf of the baseball team, but the VHSL has ruled that the Patriots’ 5-4 loss to James River Tuesday night will stand as ruled.

In spite of the discussion, the VHSL ultimately decided to call the game after just four and a half innings of play, but not until both teams were well on their way home.

In Stafford, Albemarle let a two-run lead slip away, and with it the Northwest Region championship, as Colonial Forge scored four runs in the sixth to take the title, 13-12.

Albemarle coach Carroll Bickers claimed before Wednesday’s game against Potomac that the Patriots were going to stick pitcher Jason White on the mound and “battle.”

All it took was one bad inning. And unfortunately for Louisa County, it came in its biggest game of the year.

For two years, Albemarle left fielder Vince Coles waited and developed on the Patriots’ junior varsity team. That time allowed Coles to settle into high school while learning the ropes from older players.

Tyler Brookman helped lift the Lions to a 5-0 victory over James Wood in the Region II quarterfinals.

Albemarle got at least one hit from everyone in the lineup and rallied from a five-run deficit in the final inning to knock off Halifax 12-10 and move on to the Northwest Region semifinals on Wednesday.

Just over a week ago, Fluvanna County’s baseball team beat Louisa County, handing the Lions their first loss in Jefferson District play.

If Louisa County was fazed by its first inning, no one showed it.  The Lions shook off a rocky start, got some timely hits and rode the arm of Gunnar Carroll to a Jefferson District semifinal win over Orange County Tuesday night.

Madison County swept George Mason in two regular-season meetings on the diamond. The Mustangs got revenge Tuesday night. Mason combined 15 strikeouts from ace pitcher Mike Straub and timely hitting from the top half of the lineup to advance to the Bull Run District championship game with a 4-1 win over the Mountaineers.

After falling behind in the first inning against William Monroe in the first round of the Jefferson District baseball tournament Friday night, Fluvanna County looked to be in danger of crashing out of the postseason. Instead, the Flying Flucos stayed calm and scored at least one run in each of the next five innings to advance to the semifinals with an 8-3 victory.

After rolling through the Jefferson District during the regular season, the Louisa County baseball team looks for continued success as the postseason begins.

Head coach Alan Swanson didn’t get his wish when the state playoff pairings were announced and his St. Anne’s-Belfield squad drew Benedictine.

No two baseball parks are the same, and it’s not uncommon to see a team making the most of its home-field advantage. With a handful of left-handed hitters, William Monroe took full advantage of their short right-field fence on Tuesday.

The way Orange County starting pitcher Derek Justice was dealing, the Hornets probably didn’t need five runs against William Monroe Friday night at Porterfield Park. Justice got all the run support he needed in the first inning when he helped his own cause with a sacrifice-fly RBI. The rest was icing on the cake.

Sam Beale is happy with the results of his work with Covenant freshman Sean Rutherford. Beale’s just wishing the young hurler’s success didn’t have to come against his own Miller squad.

The Nelson County baseball team, two games out of the top spot in the Dogwood District, needed a district win against a struggling Gretna squad.

Louisa County, coming off a win over William Monroe on Thursday, rode the arm of Gunnar Carroll and timely hits from the middle of its order to cruise past Western Albemarle Friday night.

An inning after Long had reached his pitch count and was removed from the mound, STAB won a battle of the bullpens and the game, edging Notre Dame 3-2 on a walk-off double by Michael Spinosa.

Fluvanna County faced an early deficit, but fought back and pulled away with a 6-5 Jefferson District win over visiting Orange County on Thursday.