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By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

Manassas-On a blustery late afternoon, the Mountain View Wildcats and Chantilly Chargers squared off in their respective second games of pool play in the Let’s Play Two spring break tournament. Both teams were coming off of wins in their first game, Mountain View over Freedom (Woodbridge) and Chantilly over host Osbourn Park.

The Chargers sent senior lefthander Forrest Wagner (Roanoke) to the mound to start the game and Mountain View countered with senior righty Dylan Hall (Virginia Tech). The pair matched zeroes in the first and second innings as the game entered the bottom of the third scoreless. For velocities and scouting information on Hall and Wagner, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog.

Hall issued a pair of walks to open the bottom of the third before picking up a strikeout, bringing up Charger senior shortstop Brett Norwood. Norwood drilled a ball to deep leftfield, driving in the first Chantilly run and leaving runners on second and third with one out. First basemen Brady Ryan drove in a second run with a groundout to second base and the Chargers ended the third inning with a 2-0 lead.

That remained the score until the top of the fifth inning, when Mountain View senior centerfield Harry D’Antuono led off with a walk. He was then sacrificed to second and sophomore designated hitter Josh Menders doubled to left, putting runners at second and third with one out after D’Antuono had to wait to advance for the ball to land. Senior shortstop Jacob Pollock (Shippensburg) then reached on a swinging bunt up the third baseline that loaded the bases. Senior third basemen Nathan Neff tied the game up with a two-run single to center, and he and Pollock ended up on second and third after the throw home. Senior catcher Alex Smith (Naval Academy) grounded to third and Pollock was cut down at home plate on a good play by Chargers’ senior third basemen Jared DiCesare (George Mason). With two outs and the game tied, Mountain View senior leftfielder Bob Grymkowski singled up the middle to drive in Neff and give the Wildcats the lead after four and half innings.

The Chargers quickly answered in the bottom of the fifth as leftfielder Garrett Snedeker and senior centerfielder Jared Enders started the inning off with infield singles. DiCesare then bunted them into scoring position and Norwood hit the situation well, grounding out to shortstop and driving in Snedeker to tie the game. Dylan Hall would then strike out Ryan to end the inning and through five, the score was tied at three.

The sixth saw both starting pitchers exit the game as senior lefthander Jake Pasquale entered for the Chargers and Pollock moved to the mound from shortstop for the Wildcats. Both put up scoreless frames in the sixth and Pasquale got two quick outs to start the top of the seventh. Alex Smith then flared a ball into rightfield that was played into a double by a diving Charger outfielder. Gryzmkowski then singled up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run and put the Wildcats up 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Pollock got Snedeker to fly to right for the first out of the inning, but Enders singled through the left side to bring the winning run to the plate in power threat DiCesare, who grounded into a fielder’s choice up the middle. With two outs, Pollock was able to get Norwood to ground into another fielder’s choice to end the game as Mountain View picked up the win, 4-3.

The Wildcats moved to 3-1 on the season and will play George C. Marshall tomorrow night at 5:30 at Woodbridge High School. Dylan Hall finished the night with 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB. Pollock picked up the win with 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB. The Wildcat offense was led by Gryzmkowski, who went 1-4 with 1 RBI, and Neff, who went 1-3 with a BB, 2 RBI, and a run scored. D’Antuono also went 2-2 with a BB and a run scored. For scouting information on Chantilly and Mountain View hitters, check the Virginia/DC Scout Blog.

The Chargers fell to 2-1 and will play rival Centreville tomorrow. Wagner finished the night with 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 2 BB. Pasquale took the loss with 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 0 BB. Offensively, Enders went 2-3 with a BB and a run scored. Norwood went 2-4 with 2 RBI and Snedeker went 1-2 with a BB, a SB, and two runs scored.