Posted on 27 April 2009 by .
By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area
*Click the links at the top-left for complete photo and video coverage of Monday’s game.*
Even though the calendar will read “May” this Friday, Stuart entered its home meeting on Monday against Wakefield having played just four National District games.
Due to widespread cancellations, the Raiders required-to-be-played district games are packed into the season’s final week, including five in a six-day span — and four in a row — next week.
With its young, injured pitching staff expected to be extended over that stretch, Stuart could not have asked for a better outing from its senior starter, especially with district tournament seeding still up in the air.
Raider right-handed pitcher Daniel Falkenstern pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits and giving up just one earned run as Stuart downed Wakefield, 8-2, in front of an unfailing defensive effort to open its wild regular-season conclusion.
“[In the last inning,] I kind of just ran out there and grabbed the ball, hoping he wouldn’t say anything,” said Falkenstern, who threw 123 pitches. “Everyone was like, ‘You’re done. You’re done.’ But I just wanted to get the complete game and get this game over with.”
Added second-year Raider coach Randy Lightle of Falkenstern’s complete game quest: “On a night like tonight, where it’s a beautiful night and he’s not throwing a lot of fastballs, if he throws 115 — I’d like to say 115 is a max — why not?
“He wanted to go back out there in that last inning, and — you know? — let him. He seemed to be keeping the kids off-balanced.”
Lightle called next week’s four-game stretch between Monday and Thursday an “incredible challenge” for his staff. Stuart has games with last place Falls Church sandwiched between a home-and-home with first place Yorktown, and has been without expected ace Sam Nelson all season due to a dislocated throwing shoulder.
But should the Raiders find success in the final week-plus — and, thus, improved seeding for the National District Tournament — they will be just a first-round district win from their first regional playoff berth in over a decade.
To do so, though, Stuart will need to give its battered staff some more run support.
Only junior Chris Zapple (2-2, 2B, 2 R) and sophomore Adam Ninteman (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) had multiple hits, while the rest of the line-up combined for just five singles.
In fact, the Raiders and Warriors had the same number of hits — seven.
The difference: Stuart committed one error in the field and walked only three batters. Wakefield, meanwhile, committed five errors and walked nine.
“It’s been pretty much characteristic,” said Lightle, whose team scored four runs in the second and third inning without a base hit. “We haven’t been hitting well with runners in scoring position. We leave too many runners on base … Our bugaboo this season has been Ks. We average about nine Ks a ballgame and I don’t understand why. I’ve got some decent kids on this team — as far as hitters go.
“But the kids, defensively, were very solid tonight. And I keep on telling them: Two-out-of-three and you’ll win ballgames, three-out-of-three you’ll win every game. And that’s pitching, hitting and defense. Tonight, we had a good effort from Falk and we had solid D.”
Added Falkenstern, the pitcher of record in three of the Raiders’ four wins this year: “We didn’t really have a good day at the plate, but we’re slowly getting some momentum going into the district tournament. That’s the best part of the season. You only have to win one district tournament game to get into Regionals. And we haven’t been to the regional tournament — the baseball team hasn’t — since 1997.
“That would be great. I haven’t had a lot of things to hold onto here at Stuart, but there are some things you can’t put a price on.”
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Wakefield (1-13, 1-6) 002 000 0 — 2 7 5
Stuart (4-9, 2-4) 231 020 X — 8 7 1
Pitchers:
WK – Tucker (L) – 4.1 IP, 8 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 8 BB
WK – Kinsman – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, H, K, BB
ST – Falkenstern (W) – CG, ER, 7 H, 5 K, 3 BB
Groundouts – Flyouts:
WK – Tucker – 3-5; Kinsman – 0-4.
ST – Falkenstern – 7-8.
Notable Batters:
WK – Kealey – 1-3, RBI, SB
WK – Heckler – 1-1, 2B, 2 BB, R
WK – Lopez – 2-3, SB
ST – Ninteman – 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K, CS
ST – Zapple – 2-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, SB
ST – Leopold – 1-1, 2 RBI, 3 BB (2 HBP, IBB), R
ST – Nelson – 0-3, 2 RBI, HBP, R
ST – Falkenstern – 1-4, RBI, K
Runners Left on Base:
WK – 5
ST – 11
Time of Game:
2 hours, 21 minutes.
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