Sports Report

Falcons Fall In VCC Semis

The Fuqua School soccer team saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Southampton Academy in the semifinals of the Virginia Commonwealth Conference Soccer Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons took an early 1-0 lead on a header by junior striker Joko Kurachi, but SA rallied to tie the contest prior to intermission, and pulled ahead in the second half. Above, FS senior midfielder Thomas Maxey knocks a ball down field early in the match. Maxey, and three other seniors, wrapped up their respective careers in the loss.
(Photo by Steve Wall)

By NATHAN KING
HERALD SPORTS EDITOR
   BUCKINGHAM — After dodging several bullets and escaping trouble all afternoon, time ran out on the Buckingham County High School baseball team, which fell to Randolph-Henry 7-6 on Tuesday afternoon.
    The Knights scored all six of their runs in the bottom of the third, but let the Statesmen answer with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before giving up four runs in the seventh to give R-H the come-from-behind victory.
    The nature of the loss left the Knights playing a painful game of "what if?".
    "I would say as a coach, I probably made the fatal mistake of leaving [Jerrad] Schuette in the game too long," said BCHS head coach Mike Jones. "I probably should've gone out and got him after the second run scored [in the seventh], but he pitched a very good game, and I wanted him to get the complete-game win.
    "It was a mistake on my part. They," said Jones pointing back to where the team huddled minutes after the game, "didn't want me to accept the responsibility for this loss, but I do."
    Buckingham (7-7, 4-3 JRD) led 6-3 in the top of the seventh and was one strike away from the victory when R-H strung together four consecutive hits that allowed the Statesmen to battle back for the victory.
    A couple of mental mistakes on how to play balls in the outfield turned safe singles into run producing doubles and triples.
    "We had some defensive mistakes that had we not made, we probably still would've pulled it out," said Jones. "You can't make mistakes against teams like this, but at the same time they're hustle errors. Those are the kinds you have to learn from and move on."
    Moving on might be the toughest task for the Knights, who were scheduled to host Amelia County on Thursday, before wrapping up district play at ACHS and at Cumberland next week.
    "We can't let them beat us twice," said Jones. "It's tough, but we have to bounce back. We still have some games left, and nothing is set in stone in the district, so we have to just come back and get after it again."
    Buckingham looked to be well on its way to victory after the six-run third inning that featured a three-run home run by senior shortstop Jason Bryant, an RBI double by freshman Todd Flippen, run producing singles by Ethan Lee and Frankie Brown and a sacrifice RBI by Schuette.
    The Knights, who have relied on pitching and defense all year, were in uncharted territory with the six-run lead.
    The Statesmen (8-6, 5-2 JRD) manufactured single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and got a solo home run in the sixth to pull within striking distance.
    "We haven't had a lead that large against a team the caliber of Randolph-Henry," said Jones. "Maybe that played a role in it. It can be dangerous. Sometimes when you get a lead that large against a team capable of making a comeback, everyone starts thinking. You can coach too much, the players start to think, and it can take you out of your game."
    In the end, what would've been a big victory for the Knights, jumbles the James River District standings.
    "A victory would've given us a better chance to do something special in the district this year. But this changes things a little, and we'll have to work a little harder. The biggest thing is that we can't allow this one game to break our spirit. We've got to keep fighting.
    "You can flip a coin on who will come out on top right now. It's still anybody's district to get, and we have to work to continue to get wins."

   The Cumberland High School baseball team got home runs from Mikhail Walton and Kory Clayton and a complete-game effort on the mound from Michael Martin (one run on five hits, four walks and five strikeouts) as the Dukes defeated Amelia 11-1 in Amelia.
   Heading into its Thursday night home contest against Goochland, Cumberland (5-8, 3-4 JRD) has won two in a row, and is in the hunt for a spot in the JRD Tournament.
   Da'Sean Shearn led the Dukes at the plate with a 3-4 performance. Walton was 2-4 with a solo home run, while Clayton was 1-3 with a walk and a solo home run. David Horton was 1-4, but knocked in three runs with a single that broke the game open.
   Given the topsy-turvy nature of the district this year, the Dukes still have a shot at a first place finish, or they can still end up outside of the four-team tournament field.
   Next Tuesday, CHS will travel to Randolph-Henry, and will wrap up its regular-season at home against Buckingham.