Jaguars Shut Out Again, Fall 15-0 to Washington-Lee

Austin Evans and Ryan Dickt each hit home runs, and Brandon Wagstaff struck out four in two innings of work as Washington-Lee scored early and often to extend its win streak to six with a 15-0 decision over Falls Church.

The win is also the ninth in the last 10 games for W-L after a 1-3 start in which the Generals were outscored 14-4 in non-district losses to McLean, Langley, and Robinson. The victory also ensures that the Generals will remain at least a half game ahead of Yorktown, who played at Mount Vernon, in the National District standings.

Evans’ first inning, 350-foot three-run blast over the left center field fence and Dickt’s two-run shot in the second represented two of just five hits the Generals managed off Jaguars starter Dane Pototsky, but the score heading into the fourth inning was 11-0. Pototsky struck out three, but struggled with his control, walking five and hitting two batters.

David Palmer added a three-run double in the third, and seven total players drove in at least one run for W-L as Doug Grove was able to go to his bench early and send 16 different batters to the plate.

“We have a pretty good mix [of experience],” Grove said. “We won 18 games last year with three or four of them. The rest of these guys, it’s new to them, so it’s good to get some wins and get comfortable.”

Wagstaff spearheaded a dominant team pitching performance for the Generals. The senior allowed three hits in the first inning, but never allowed a runner past first base thanks to a fielder’s choice and a perfect throw from right fielder Nicholas Bornbusch that got to third base ahead of Falls Church’s Paul Flumer as he tried to advance from first. That throw ended the inning, and Wagstaff struck out the side in the second before giving way to Jake McDonough after a quick night.

“He’s going to come back and pitch Friday, so we wanted him to get a little bit of rest,” Grove said of Wagstaff. “He was a little rusty at times, I thought his breaking ball wasn’t that sharp, but we accomplished pretty much what we wanted with him pitching a little bit.”

McDonough was nearly as effective in his two innings of work, striking out three. Ryan Wall, who also had two hits, struck out one in the fifth inning to preserve the shutout.

Just as W-L benefited from timely hitting – nine of the Generals’ first 11 runs came with two outs – the Jaguars luck was quite the opposite. Three times Falls Church managed to get two runners on, but each time came up empty. A lack of scoring punch has defined the Jaguars disappointing season, as they didn’t score their first run until the fourth game of the season, and have now suffered three consecutive shutouts for the second time in 2011.

Cory Karczewski had two of Falls Church’s five hits, but most of the Jaguars’ lineup struggled to hit the ball hard off W-L’s pitchers. Jaguars’ batters found themselves behind in the count in nearly every at bat, and five of their eight strikeouts came swinging.

On Wednesday, the Generals will host Oakton in a rare last-season non-district match up. The Cougars should prove a difficult test, having beaten Yorktown 11-1. The Patriots handed the Generals their lone district loss, 10-4.

The Jaguars will make the short trip across Annandale Road to rival Stuart on Friday before closing out the season with four straight home games.