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VA/DC Scout Blog: Dominion at Loudoun Valley

May 24, 2023
John Nolan
NOVA Scouting Coordinator

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Monday night, the Dulles District tournament got underway with its quarterfinals as fifth-seeded Dominion traveled to fourth-seeded Loudoun Valley. There is still one Region 4C bid up for grabs in this week's District Tournament, so this was a win or go home game. Both teams sent their top arms to the mound to start the game, junior lefty Cayden Suchy (UConn) for Dominion and sophomore lefty Davis Bush for Loudoun Valley.

Neither team was able to score in the first three innings, Bush kept Dominion off balance and the Titans didn't really mount any early threats. Valley loaded the bases in the second against Suchy, but couldn't cash any runs in.

Dominion got on the board first in the top of the fourth when junior Ben Florkowski lined a triple to right for his second hit of the game. He then scored on a Zach Roth sacrifice fly to give the Titans an early 1-0 lead. Valley wasted very little time responding. In the bottom of the fourth, junior Ian Valenti lined an RBI triple to right-center to tie the game, and then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

After that burst of offense, the pitchers again took back over, escaping minor threats in the fifth and sixth innings. Suchy exited with runners on in the bottom of the sixth, but Valley was shut down and clung to a 2-1 lead headed to the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, with Bush still in the game, Ryan Blough was able to fight a one-out single into leftfield to put the tying run on base. After a walk, the Vikings brought senior shortstop Jake Slade (Virginia Tech) into close. He walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases and bring Suchy to the plate. On a full-count pitch, Suchy was able to punch a two-hopper up the 3B line that went for a two-run double, giving the Titans a 3-2 lead. 

 

 

Florkowski came on in the seventh for Dominion and worked a quick, quiet three-up, three-down inning to secure the 3-2 win for Dominion and send them to a Dulles District semifinal showdown with top-seeded Heritage (Leesburg). 

 

Dominion 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Blough MIF / OF / Dominion , VA / 2023

 

 

Zach Roth MIF / 2B / Dominion , VA / 2023

 

 

Cayden Suchy LHP / Dominion, VA / 2024

Suchy is a UConn commit and has been a big riser in our rankings this spring. Our Ground Forces staff was out to see him in late April, but this was my first look at him and I was pretty impressed. Suchy is 6-0 with an athletic frame, there is some strength present but I would describe it more as functional and he still has a loose flexible frame. Drop and drive delivery, really engages his lower half and drives toward plate. Longer, loose, very quick arm, works from a high three-quarters arm slot, throws with some effort and intent, but the arm really works. Primarily a three pitch mix, fastball was 88-90 overall, touching 91 twice in the first inning and 92 once in the sixth. Mostly of his outing he basically sat 89-90, running that velocity up to around 100 pitches. Generates downward angle on the fastball with a touch of late life. Primary breaking ball is a curveball that was 72-76, throws it with good armspeed and late sharp power 1/7 break to it. Missed just up with it quite a bit on the outing trying to get early count strikes or called strike threes, pitch is best when he buries it, I would personally like to see that more the next time I see him out. Started working in a change-up in the later innings to righthanders, pitch showed pretty well with good armspeed at 81-82 with heavy hard late fade. Both change-up and curveball flash swing and miss. Did show one or two sliders early that were 78 with tighter 2/8 break, but shelved it. Really liked the combination of mix and velocity. If I'm getting nitpicky right now, I would describe him as control more than command in the outing, he was up with a lot of his breaking balls and the fastball was around the zone but not spotted up often. He had a lot of deep counts as a result and ran up his pitch count with some walks. The stuff is there and will continue to develop, the next step for him is start to show more command than control. Very exciting arm and definitely one of the top ones in Virginia in the 24 class.

 

 

 

 

 

Loudoun Valley

 

 

 

Ian Valenti OF / RHP / Loudoun Valley , VA / 2024