The Mechanicsville American Little League team faced a noticeable disadvantage when it took the field for the second round of the District V 9-10 Baseball Tournament at Manchester. The Americans were slated to face a talented Atlee squad whose roster included several members of the Hometown Hawks travel team, currently ranked #1 in the state of Virginia.

  If that was not enough, Mechanicsville also gave up nearly six inches per player to their opponents. “There’s no doubt about it,” said manager Mike Hogan. “There’s a noticeable size difference but I’m proud of the boys. They looked really good. I can’t say enough about how good they looked out there tonight.”

  The lack of size did not stop Mechanicsville from taking an early 1-0 lead and limiting Atlee to a single score in the bottom of the first.

  However, Atlee’s talent carried the day as they wore down Mechanicsville to win the contest 11-1 in four innings.

  Hogan gave specific pre-game instructions to his Mechanicsville team in the dugout. “Big bats. Big gloves. No mistakes,” he said.

  It was apparent that his players took the message to heart.

  Facing Atlee starter Adam Jewell, Mechanicsville’s John Lavin got the ball rolling with a lead-off double to left.

  Austin Buisset’s one-out single to short allowed Lavin to reach third but the American bats quickly took Jewell out of his game.

  With Preston Eacho at bat, Lavin scored on a wild pitch as Eacho was walked. Next up, Ned Anthony also reached via walk to load the bases for Mechanicsville.

  With the potential threat of the American’s breaking the game open early, Atlee manager Rodney Chenault went to his ace-in-the-hole. Though he planed on pitching Jack Dragum at some point in the game. Using him in the top of the first was not his intention. “The plan was to have our starter go a little bit further then bring Jack in,” Chenault said.

  With Dragum pitching, the complexion of the game suddenly changed. Coming to the mound with bases loaded and one out, Dragum struck out the next two Mechanicsville batters to escape the threat.

  “That’s why he’s our No.1,” Chenault said. “He came in with bases loaded and one out. He left with bases loaded.”

  But Dragum didn’t stop there.

  Over the next three innings, Dragum gave up one hit by striking out eight of the next 10 batters he faced.

  “Jack Dragum just shut them down,” Chenault said.

  However, it appeared that the game would turn into a pitcher’s duel when Buisset stepped to the mound. After giving up two quick hits, Buisset appeared to be just as much of a defensive threat as Dragum.

  Atlee’s Jack Chenault led off with a single to center then Nick Zona lofted a shot over second to quickly put two Atlee runners on.

  But the small, bespectacled Buisset settled into a groove striking out the next two Atlee batters before giving up a run to Chenault on a wild pitch.

  However, Buisset bounced back to pick up his third straight K and escape the inning.

  “He’s a small, scrappy kid but I tell you what, he knows how to play,” Hogan said of of his starter. “He’s a baller.”

  Mechanicsville showed loads of confidence by holding Atlee to a 1-1 tie but they appeared to be unsettled when Dragum took down the order in the top of the second.

  In the bottom of the inning the Atlee bats suddenly came to life.

  Atlee quickly loaded the bases on walks of Jack Goleski and Dalton Davis followed by a perfect bunt from Josh Brown.

  A single to right by Michael Warley allowed Goleski and Davis to score. Then with one out, Zona’s RBI single to left drove in Brown.

  Finally, Zona made the Atlee lead 6-1 scoring on a wild pitch.

  Dragum once again took down the order in the top of the third allowing Atlee to break the game open in the bottom half of the inning.

  Carson Miller led off with a double to the center field fence and came home on a single from Hunter Brooks. Brooks then scored on a triple from KJ Rood and Rood came home on a single from Jordan Thompson.

  A single to right from Zona drove in Thompson and Dragum closed out the scoring with a RBI triple to center that drove in Zona to create the final margin.

  Though Mechanicsville fell by the mercy rule, Hogan could not have been more pleased with what his team showed him. “We did absolutely great,” he said. “If we’d have played the entire game the way we played the first inning the game would be looking a whole lot different right now. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we came out ready to play.”

  Even in the win, Atlee’s Chenault felt his team learned a valuable lesson. “We gave up one run in the top half of the inning and I saw some long faces,” he said. “I said, what happened after that? What’s the lesson here? We didn’t lose the inning. We came back and scored a run. That’s what we always talk about. Win every inning. They responded well.”

  Mechanicsville American was eliminated from tournament play the following evening in a loss to Chesterfield.

The championship game of the 9-10 division will take place on July 9, 6:30 p.m. at Manchester field # 2.