Handley upsets Sherando in baseball - Sports

WINCHESTER — From its position at the bottom of the Northwestern District, Handley came in as the underdog. However, with a combination of luck and skill, the Judges scored the upset with a 7-3 victory over Sherando on Thursday night.

Two walks and an error by Sherando gave Handley four unearned runs in the first inning, putting the Judges up 4-0 and giving the last-place team the belief it could pull out a win.

"Starting the first pitch of the game, we were lethargic," Sherando coach Pepper Martin said. "We had no enthusiasm, no energy and no intensity. If things don't get turned around soon, we could have a free fall."

Nevertheless, Sherando wasn't fully to blame for the initial first runs. Handley also had three hits in the inning, and was led offensively by Chris Stryker, who finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

"We have this new rule system for when we're at bat," Stryker said. "If you make a mental mistake, you have to run for it. It was Chase's [Brown] idea. Now we're actually going up to plate swinging instead of looking at everything. I swung at the pitches that I saw were good tonight and it worked out to my advantage."

Handley's final three runs came in the sixth inning. Sherando loaded the bases and a grounder by C.J. Pilong scored Jamie Dodd from third. Stryker came to the plate and worked his magic again, hitting a single into deep center that scored Brian Tavenner and David Joyner.

"We're trying to become a little bit more aggressive at the plate," Handley coach Eddie Simmons said. "We're focusing on having better at-bats and finding better pitches to hit early in the count. We weren't doing that earlier in the season. We were getting down in the count and when you do that at this level you get in trouble."

With strong run support starting in the first inning, Handley pitcher Chase Brown had little to worry about on the defensive end. Brown had four strikeouts, three walks and sprinkled just three hits throughout the game.

"Chase has done well his last three or four outings." Simmons said. "He's been throwing well every time he goes out there. He goes out there and throws strikes and gives us the chance to win. He's a senior, he's our guy and he's who we want out there."

Brown ran into a rough patch in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases and allowing two of Sherando's three runs to score. However, Brown worked through his troubles to finish the game with no further damage.

"I started missing my spots and when the bases were loaded it kind of got a little tight," Brown said. "I worked it out, though, and it just feels awesome to have a district win. Doing well in the District tournament is what we're striving for now."

Comment on this story | View Comments |