Dulles diamond season rounding third
By Jason S. Rufner
As the final few games tick off the schedule in the Dulles District baseball season, little is certain about how the standings will look once tournament play begins.
Entering Monday night's action, the 2007 regular season champion, Broad Run, and the 2007 district tournament winner, Potomac Falls, are tied for first place, each having lost twice to intra-district foes.
The two will have at it Friday when the Panthers travel to Ashburn to face the Spartans.
"I'm glad we are in the race," Broad Run coach Pat Cassidy said. "We haven't played great every night, but we've played good enough to hang around.”
“I'm just happy that we are in it,” Cassidy continued. “Teams like Potomac Falls and Dominion are playing really well and teams like Park View and Heritage are coming around."
The Dominion Titans, a game back in the loss column of the top two, will have something to say about how the district race turns out.
The Titans, who play a home-and-home with the Panthers Monday and Tuesday, will host the Spartans May 13, sport a pair of solid pitchers in Chris Taylor and Geoff McCowat.
"They have a couple of good pitchers," Potomac Falls coach Joe Terango said. "We haven't had a chance to see them yet, but from what I've read and heard, [Dominion] coach [Jay] Raines is putting a quality ballclub on the field."
Cassidy gave his view of the Dulles race.
"This thing is still wide open," he said. "Everybody has shown that they are good enough, but nobody has run away with this thing. It's going to be exciting."
Not to be outdone, fourth place Park View will battle traditional rival Broad Run on Tuesday, while the Heritage Pride host Dominion Friday in Leesburg.
The Panthers have a formidable starting tandem themselves in Jake Kline and Mike Detaranto.
"We need to throw low strikes, work ahead in count. It's gonna be pitching and defense," Terango said, employing an old baseball adage.
Terango's roster contains just three seniors, but he looks upon his junior-laden bunch as a squad to be reckoned with.
"These juniors have played in some big games," he said, mentioning their regional tournament victory last year against Louisa County. "We have a talented group with big-game experience."
The Spartans return the services of left-handed starter Cole Shain, who missed two weeks with a second-degree ankle sprain. Cassidy credited pitchers Trey Brocke and JP Devlin for stepping up in Shain's absence.
"We are all glad that Cole is back, but I think we showed a lot of character when he was out. This is a nice boost to get him back going down the home stretch."
Cassidy features a senior-dominated team which advanced to the Region II semifinals in 2007.
"We haven't really talked much about last year,” Cassidy said. “It was a great ride, but now we are trying to do something new. Our first goal is still to get out of the district. It's a dogfight just to get out of this district."