By David Selig
The Winchester Star

Winchester — There’s no such thing as a moral victory in a game that decides first place in the district standings.

But the way Brentsville has handled James Wood High School’s baseball team the past two years, the Colonels probably couldn’t have afforded a lopsided loss that was taking shape late Thursday night at R. Charles Hott Field.

Coach Jared Mounts suggested his Colonels (11-4, 10-3 Northwestern) needed to put the loss in their “back pocket” and move on, but there was a clear message that played out through the night.

James Wood was good enough to win, if not for some costly mistakes.

“You’ve got to learn from it, because this is a tough loss,” said left fielder Danny Cooper, who went 3-for-4. “I messed up a couple times. I’m sure a lot of guys are saying this too, but if I wouldn’t have messed up, you don’t know what would have happened.”

Cooper hit a single in scored in that seventh-inning rally, but he also got caught between second and third on a double in the bottom of the third. Cooper was tagged out with Tim Spore standing on third base, then Spore tried to race home and got gunned down to kill a potential early rally.

Cooper also made a leaping catch against the fence in the first inning, one batter after he misread a fly ball that dropped for a double.

Along those lines, starter Matt Copley (4-1) labored through five innings, needing 99 pitches, but he struck out five and left with his team trailing just 2-1.

Designated hitter Cody Vorous sparked the five-run seventh with a two-run homer to deep center after Copley reached on an error to lead off.

But later in the inning Brentsville reliever Ryan Douglas struck out Vorous on three pitches to end the game with the bases loaded.

“It’s a shame to see him strike out at the end, but at the same time, he kept us in the game,” Mounts said. “Without him, it’s not a one-run game.”

The game had been close until the top of the seventh, when the Tigers (11-2, 9-2) scored five runs with two outs, benefiting from a James Wood error and two wild pitches.

The Colonels could also regret the pitches they decided not to throw in that inning.

Trailing by one with a runner on third, two outs and one strike on cleanup hitter Hayden Gilmer, Wood called for an intentional walk.

After a wild pitch scored the runner on third, Justin Weaver launched a two-run homer to right field, making it 6-2.

“My gut feeling was that we had to walk [Gilmer],” Mounts said. “I consulted with the coaches, you know, flip a coin. We’re thinking he’s in the four hole for a reason, he’s an RBI guy, let’s not let him hurt us. We’re rolling the dice there.”

Brentsville coach Brian Knight said he probably would have made the same decision, but it’s a situation the Colonels will have to think back on after losing by such a slim margin.

Even with all the small miscues his team made, Mounts said the key is getting past them.

“You’ve got to have a short-term memory in baseball,” he said. “You can’t let one mistake snowball, and that’s what we’ve been doing. We let one mistake lead to another mistake to another mistake. We’re going to score runs, we just have to quit shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Brentsville has now beaten James Wood in each of the teams’ five meetings the past two seasons, including last year’s district championship.

Thursday’s game could ultimately decide if this year’s title game returns to Nokesville, which is why moral victories are rendered almost useless between teams with as much to play for as Brentsville and James Wood.

“We knew this was going to be the biggest game of the year, because this is for first place,” said Tigers starter Austin Hale, who lasted 61/3 innings to improve to 5-1. “Now we’ve got sole possession of first place, and that’s all that matters.”