Close baseball games? It’s been the norm for the Washington-Liberty Generals high-school team over the past two seasons.
And in recent action, the trend has continued.
In the squad’s last four games this season, the Generals have won two one-run contests, lost by two and won by two against one of their Arlington rivals, the Wakefield Warriors.
In all so far this season, Washington-Liberty (12-7) has been involved in five one-run games and as many others decided by two. Last spring, the team played in nine one-run contests, two more decided by two and three by three.
The recent one-run wins were over the defending Class 6 state champion McLean Highlanders, 4-3, then the Marshall Statesmen, 2-1, in back-to back contests.
Senior relief pitcher George Thompson got a two-pitch save against McLean in 2/3 frames of work, then earned a 13-pitch win in W-L’s extra-inning walkoff victory over Marshall in eight frames.
The save came as a result of a game-ending double play induced by a Thompson pitch.
Thompson pitched one inning against Marshall, facing three batters with a strikeout.
Jack Keane started and pitched seven innings of three-hit ball with 10 strikeouts against Marshall, but did not get the decision. Alex Bartl, Robert Kilpatrick, Hank Thomson and Alex Goodell had W-L’s hits.
Against McLean, Kilpatrick and Sam Jackman each had a hit and one RBI, Keane and Sean Guffey had hits and Goodell doubled.
In the loss to Herndon, Keane had three hits with a double and an RBI, Goodell had two hits and Alex Frymoyer had a hit. Thomson started and allowed three hits and struck out seven in five innings on the mound.
Against Wakefield, Bartl and Goodell each had a hit and one RBI, and Keane doubled. The Generals were outhit, 9-6, with Wakefield hurt by four errors. Washington-Liberty used five pitchers.
Peter Boerstling had two hits for Wakefield, and Mason Bull had a hit and two RBI.
Yorktown has mixed results in recent action: The Yorktown Patriots (10-7) lost to the McLean Highlanders, 9-3, then defeated the Langley Saxons, 8-3, and the Marshall Statesmen, 4-1, in Liberty District games.
In the win over Langley, Colt Monticello hit a solo home run and Cooper Lawson had a run-scoring double and RBI single. Jack Rubin had an RBI single, Leo Holt had a sacrifice fly and RBI single, Owen Woodward drove in a run with a single and had a sacrifice bunt, and Aidan McCracken stole two bases.
John Rizzo threw a 92-pitch complete game and had two hits, including a run-scoring double.
In the loss to McLean, Rizzo had two hits, as did Lawson with an RBI single.
Against Marshall, McCracken and Rizzo each singled and doubled, Holt had an RBI double, and Woodward had two hits and two RBI.
Cameron Gonzalez started and pitched five innings, with Max Troiano working the final two.
