Follow @PBRVirginiaDC
By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Purcellville-2015 5A State Champion and No. 19 Stone Bridge went on the road Wednesday night to take on 2014 3A State Champion and No. 12 Loudoun Valley in what was sure to be one of the marquee matchups in Loudoun County this spring. Both teams feature three senior Division I commits that lead deep, talented rosters.

This game was dominated throughout by the pitchers on both sides. Loudoun Valley started senior ace Justin Ager (Yale) and Stone Bridge countered with senior Lawton Riggs (James Madison for football). Riggs battled through a tough second inning as he lost his command for a few batters, issuing two walks and a hit by pitch before buckling down and getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning. For velocities and scouting information on Ager and Riggs, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog later this week.

Ager also struggled with his command at times throughout the game, hitting two batters and issuing three walks. After the first inning, Ager never allowed more than one runner to reach base in an inning, and he only allowed one base hit all game, a single by freshman Paul Moore in the third inning. Ager had seven strikeouts, including striking out the side in the seventh to put a nice cap on his outing.

Riggs only threw three innings as the Bulldogs have a busy schedule coming up and need arms available. He was replaced by junior Gary Fuller in the fourth. Fuller continued putting up zeroes but had to work out of trouble as the Viking's leadoff hitter reached base in each of the last three innings of the game. In the fifth, Fuller was able to get around a leadoff walk by striking out Loudoun Valley senior shortstop Trey McDyre (Liberty) and getting senior catcher Hunter Gore (Liberty) to line out softly to shortstop. In the sixth, Fuller worked around a leadoff double by senior first baseman Andrew Lockhart with a pair of strikeouts to keep the game scoreless.

The seventh inning saw Fuller begin to tire as he walked the eighth hitter and the ninth hitter in the Viking lineup to open the inning. Stone Bridge then went to the bullpen and brought senior David Mocabee (James Madison) in from third base to face the top of the Viking order. Mocabee was welcomed quickly as McDyre singled sharply to center to load the bases. Mocabee got his first out on a strikeout and that brought up Gore with the game on the line. Gore ripped a ball that almost scooted through the drawn in infield as the Stone Bridge second baseman made a diving stop, but his throw home was late and Loudoun Valley walked off with the 1-0 win. For velocities and scouting information on Fuller and Mocabee, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog later this week.

Ager earned the win and finished the game with a line of 7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 HBP, 3 BB, and 7 K. Gore paced the offense by going 2-3, with a BB and an RBI. Lockhart went 1-3 with a double. Second baseman Kurtis Meyer went 1-2 with a HBP, and leftfielder Dylan Holliday went 0-1 with 2 BB.

For Stone Bridge, Riggs finished with 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 HBP, 3 BB, and 3 K. Fuller took the loss and threw well, with a line of 3+ IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, and 5 K.