LYNCHBURG — South No. 1 seed Jefferson Forest defeated North No. 1 James Wood 3-1 on Wednesday in the Region 4D baseball championship game.
The Cavaliers (20-2) led 1-0 after one inning, 2-0 after three and 3-0 after five against James Wood (16-7). The Colonels — who had a four-game winning streak snapped — scored in the seventh inning. James Wood had the tying run at the plate in the seventh, but a groudout ended the game.
The Colonels will next play in the Class 4 state quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Region 4C champion. Loudoun Valley and Woodgrove play Thursday. Jefferson Forest will host the loser of that game.
On Wednesday, James Wood had three hits, drew four walks and committed three errors and put runners in scoring position in all but the first inning. Just one run scored against the Colonels was earned. The Cavaliers had six hits, drew one walk and committed two errors.
In the bottom of the first inning, Isaac Elder (1 for 2, two runs, RBI, walk) singled and moved to third on an error. Beckett Gilleland (2 for 3, double) drove Elder in with a single to center to make it 1-0 against James Wood starter Parker Kerns (five innings, three runs, one earned run, six hits, one walk, eight strikeouts).
In the top of the second, Kaden McCuillough (1 for 2, walk), singled, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout, the second out of the inning. McCullough was stranded at third after another groundout against Elder (four shutout innings, one hit, two walks, six strikeouts).
James Wood put another runner in scoring position in the third inning when Owen Neal (1 for 4, RBI) reached on an error with two outs and stole second. A strikeout ended the inning.
Jefferson Forest extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the frame. Jacob Eckart (1 for 3, walk) singled and advanced to second on an error. Eckart then moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Elder.
McCullough reached second on a two-out error in the fourth, but he was stranded on a groundout to second base.
The Colonels put two runners in scoring position in the fifth. Tyler Day had a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Brady Smith. A walk to Cole Ritter (1 for 3, double, run) followed. A fielder's choice groundout to shortstop put runners on first and third with two outs. Defensive indifference during the ensuing at-bat moved the runner on first to second, but Eckart (2.2 innings, one earned run, two hits, two walks) ended the inning with one of his three strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fifth, Elder walked with one out. He moved to second on a passed ball, then scored on a two-out single by Jackson Mistretta for a 3-0 score.
In the sixth inning, McCullough walked with two outs and took second on a wild pitch. Eckart induced a groundout to end the inning.
James Wood finally crossed the plate in the seventh inning after Ritter doubled with two outs and Neal singled him in. At that point, Mistretta relieved Eckart, and he ended the game by getting the Colonels to ground out.
Also for James Wood, Tyler Prusik struck out two batters in a perfect inning of relief in the sixth inning.