After coming off of a big win against Fluvanna County, the Lions traveled to Albemarle on Thursday after previously beating the Patriots 7-2. Lliam Grubbs got the call for the Lions, coming off of a two hit outing against Orange County. Junior, Aiden McClune started on the mound for the Patriots.
Austin Nicholas led off the top of the first for the Lions with a hard ground ball to the second baseman for the first out. Matt West followed with a single and a stolen base. Grubbs then flew out to the center fielder for the second out while West advanced to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded after a strikeout ended the first.
Ryan Porter led off for the Patriots in the bottom of the first, driving a hard liner to the first baseman to record the first out. Ryan’s brother, Andrew Porter followed with a groundout to the second baseman. Grubbs recorded his first strikeout of the night after Chase Miller went down looking for the third out.
McClune faced the minimum number of batters in the top of the second, with his second strikeout of the night, holding the Lions scoreless. Grubbs continued his dominant pitching into the bottom of the second, recording his own 1-2-3 inning with his second strikeout of the game.
McClune held the Lions to no hits in the top of the third, recording his third and fourth strikeouts of the game. Grubbs followed suit in the bottom half of the third, recording two strikeouts and a ground out to end the inning.
West led off the top half of the fourth with a walk for the Lions. Grubbs then drove a double to right center, scoring West from first. Junior, Jack McDonald followed with a single to center field, giving Louisa runners at first and third. With one out, Tyler Earley flew out to the right fielder, scoring courtesy runner, Caleb Turner, from third. Garrett Duerson followed with his own RBI single to left field, scoring McDonald. Owen Agee then nailed a double to deep centerfield, scoring courtesy runner, Travis Pleasants. Louisa’s rally ended after sophomore J.B Lamb flew out on a hard hit ball to left field.
Albemarle responded with their own rally in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Porter led off with a single to left field. “We know that Grubbs is a great pitcher,” said Porter. “We’re trying to go out there early and be aggressive on his fastball because his off-speed stuff is so good.” Andrew Porter followed with a fielder’s choice, while back-to-back errors scored Ryan Porter. Alex Petroka flew out to the left fielder to score Andrew Porter, followed by a fielder’s choice from Connor Moriarty, which scored Miller. Grubbs recorded two quick outs to hold the Patriots to 3 runs.
Louisa failed to record another hit in the top of the fifth, McClune only allowing a walk to West. Grubbs recorded two quick outs to begin the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Porter then reached on an error from the shortstop, followed by a walk to Andrew Porter. However, the Porter brothers were stranded and Grubbs got out of the inning allowing no runs.
Tristan Snyder led off the top of the sixth for the Lions with a groundout to the third baseman. Earley followed with a double to right center, but was caught in a double play after Duerson lined out to the first baseman. “I had to come up in the box tonight,” said Earley. “We had to take a different approach tonight and it worked out.”
Louisa secured the win 4-3 while Grubbs finished the game with just three hits and eight strikeouts. “I was feeling good,” said Grubbs. “My confidence was up and I knew I needed to throw strikes and get the job done.”
The Lions will play in their last regular season home game, and celebrate senior night, on Tuesday against Western Albemarle at 6:30. “We are going in with the same mindset as always,” said Earley. “We’re probably going to see Domecq, so we are going to go and attack him.” Let’s go Lions!
