Louisa falls in semis

By Liz Keller

Published: May 29, 2008

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

Broad Run exploded for six runs in the second inning, got a stellar performance from senior pitcher Cole Shain and never looked back, dispatching the Lions 10-1 in the Region II semifinals Wednesday night.

“The fact that he threw the ball great in a big game doesn’t shock me. The fact that we played well defensively doesn’t shock me, but putting 10 runs up on a very good Louisa team surprises me,” said Broad Run coach Pat Cassidy. “Louisa’s a good baseball team — they are every year. For us to take on a program of that quality is big for our kids.”

Shain, a left-hander who is headed to William & Mary, scattered four hits over seven innings, keeping Louisa (19-5) off-balance all evening.

With the game tied 1-1, the Spartans (21-3) got things going with two outs in the second inning.

Patrick Murphy and Andrew Mann had back-to-back singles, and Murphy later scored. Ryan Diviney and Shain joined the hit parade with RBI singles, but the biggest hit came from Trey Brocke, who delivered a three-run double to the gap in right-center field as Broad Run took a commanding lead.

“It took the life out of us,” said Louisa first-year coach Kevin Fisher of the second inning. “[Gunnar Carroll] got ahead [of batters] but I know there’s 3-4 pitches he’d like to have back. But that’s baseball sometimes. He threw well all year, and gave us what he had tonight, it just wasn’t his night.”

Carroll got some help from his outfield — with putouts from Kenny Fleming in left field and Reggie Shelton in right — to keep the Spartans off the basepaths over the next few innings, but the damage had already been done.

Broad Run, the Dulles District champion, tacked on three more runs in the sixth, taking advantage of a couple of Louisa miscues.

The Lions’ biggest hit came from Kurt Fleming, who homered on Shain’s second pitch of the ballgame to stake the visitors to a 1-0 lead.

But it didn’t get any easier for Louisa after the second inning.

Cassidy was pleased to see his group put together a complete game.

“Eight guys got hits, and all nine of our starters got on base. We didn’t have one guy with four hits, we had a bunch of guys contribute which was nice,” Cassidy said. “We pride ourselves on being a team, not having one or two superstars. The fact that everybody chips in makes it nice in a win like tonight.”

Broad Run plays the Brentsville District-Potomac Falls winner for the region championship on Friday.