Fluvanna forces decisive game with Albemarle

ORANGE—Fluvanna Post 2003 spent the first half of its night in Orange County playing a game that had almost as many runs as outs when it came out on top of Staunton Post 13 in the first game of a must-win doubleheader.

Facing another another win or go home situation, Fluvanna outlasted Albemarle Post 74, 4-3, in a game that was the polar opposite of its predecessor—marked by small-ball and strong pitching—to force a winner takes all American Legion District 12 championship tonight.

Albemarle jumped out to a 2-0 start in the bottom of the first, but as it did against Staunton earlier in the evening, Post 2003 rallied back to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of third inning. From there it was a pitchers duel between Albemarle’s Sam Riedesel and Fluvanna’s Tyler Brookman - who, by the way, spent all 9 innings against Staunton behind the plate.

“I knew I had to suck it up after catching that game,“ Brookman said. “The whole team stepped up tonight. It wasn’t just me. When we made a mistake, we capitalized on the next play. On the mound, it was about just keeping them off balance and making sure to get ahead in the count.“

Fluvanna coach Eric Miles disagreed ever so slightly.

“Tyler Brookman was the story of the game,“ he said. “Brookman on the mound shut them down and kept them off balance. We got some hits, some [sacrifices]. We just played small ball. Our guys played straight-up baseball and it was a great game.“

Riedesel and his defense worked their way through the Fluvanna lineup without too much trouble, but Brookman didn’t have it quite so easy. Albemarle had three different occasions with at least two runners in scoring position but wasn’t able to bring them home - most notably in the seventh inning, when Ryan Foster and Keith Pillow managed to turn an inning ending 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded.

“The big thing for us was that we couldn’t get that big hit because we had the baserunners”, said Albemarle coach Mike Maynard. “But credit Brookman. He threw a fantastic ballgame.“

The momentum swung into the next inning for Fluvanna as Kurt Fleming led of the eighth with a base hit and a stolen base to end Riedesels night. In the next at bat, Fluvanna’s Christian Oliver was able to bunt Fleming over to third while the next batter, Tyler Denby, broughtg Fleming home on a sacrifice fly for what ended up being the game-winning run.

“I hit that line drive and automatically I knew I was going to take second base,“ Fleming said of his big hit in the eighth. “Christian did his job to get me over and then Denby did his job to bring me in.“

It was all Brookman needed as he plowed through the last six Albemarle batters to earn the complete-game victory.

Danny Morris provided plenty of offense for Albemarle with three hits and a stolen base. Teammate Tyler Molinaro went 0 for 5 on the night, but still managed to drive in a pair of runs.

Flemming, Ryan Foster and Justin Edwards were the only players to tag the Albemarle pitching staff for more than one hit. Fleming lead the way by going 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Foster and Edwards each wound up 2 for 4.

Albemarle and Fluvanna play today at Porterfield Park in Orange at 7 p.m. for a berth in the American Legion state tournament.