'Zac Attack' Leads Cox To Big Win
If there's a better time to blast one's first home run of the season, the one that Zac Bach whacked Tuesday would be tough to beat.
The Cox junior knocked a two-run shot over Old Dominion University's left-centerfield fence to break open a 6-1 win over visiting Battlefield in AAA state quarterfinal competition.
"Coming out of the box, I just ran," said Bach, who helped his team to the Eastern Region title this season. "I slowed up when I saw the umpire at second base swinging his finger. I really didn't think about the game. I was thinking about my teammates."
That's who got the big win rolling in the bottom of the first. Kyle Profilet started things with a single, and Chase Kyriacou tripled him in. The third strike on Ryan Muncy got away from the Battlefield catcher, sending Muncy to first and Kyriacou home.
Richie Salter drew a walk, and he and Muncy got into scoring position with a double-steal. When Austin Erb knocked a two-bagger over short, both hit the plate for a 4-0 lead.
Back in business in the second, Profilet whacked a single up the middle, setting the stage for Bach's round-tripper.
Brandon McMahon led off the fifth with a solo shot for the Bobcats, but it would be one of just three hits on the day for Battlefield.
"With a lead like that, you keep doing what you're doing, and your teammates will back you up," said Salter, who struck out five in as many innings. "The next teams we play will be tough, but we're going to keep playing with the same intensity."
That's because not all their wins will be as wide as Tuesday's, coach Bill Conroy asserted.
"If you're in the final four in the state and you're overconfident, there's something wrong with you," said Conroy, whose team goes to Chantilly's Westfield High Friday to battle the winner of Tuesday evening's Lake Braddock-Hanover contest.
"Every team that's at Westfield is going to be a legit team," Conroy said. "There's not going to be any cakewalks. We're going to have to play our 'A' game, and if we do that, we'll find a chance to win."
In other local action, Eastern Region runner-up Menchville's game at Stafford on Tuesday was postponed by rain, and will be made up today.
