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The Hanover Hawks came two batters short of running through their lineup twice in the bottom of the first inning against visiting Varina, carding 11 runs in route to a 14-0 five inning victory.

Ironically, Hanover head coach Charlie Dragum came into Thursday night’s matchup with Varina facing a sense of trepidation. Not only was he without the services of pitching phenom Jake Mayers, who has been out while recovering from a tonsillectomy,  Dragum did not feel his team was coming into the game with the right attitude.

“Varina’s a team that, their record’s not great but they’ve always had good athletes,” he said. “It’s a district game and not having Jacob we were a little concerned.

“I was scared,” Dragum said. “I thought our guys came ready to play because I questioned them, I challenged them. I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t feel like you guys are here.’ We got good senior leadership and they stepped up.”

In his third start of the season, Tyler Kane once again turned in a solid performance on the mound combining with Daniel Burroughs and Justin Thorn to throw a no-hitter.
 
“I just try to get in there and throw strikes and get people out,” Kane said.
“Kane has been really good for us,” Dragum said. In three starts against Deep Run, Atlee and Varina, Kane has given up a total of one earned run. “He’s had some big wins for us. I’m pretty confident with him.”

Kane’s only fault of the night came against the second batter he faced, walking Varina’s Austin McKim then sending him to second on a baulk. But Kane struck out the other three first inning batters then took out the order in the top of the next two innings, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced before being relieved by Burroughs.

In the bottom of the first, Varina showed solid defense through the first three batters, then the game turned into a pitching nightmare for starter Daniel Stanley.

Stanley led off the game with a walk of Bryson Kemler but then caught the Hanover player in an attempt to steal second.

Jeb Weymouth (2 for 3, 2 runs) reached by dropping a shot into short left and reached second when Austin Erb grounded out to first.

But then Stanley figuratively collapsed on the mound. With two out, Stanley walked Laine Denton (HR, 3 runs) to put Hawk runners on first and second. Next up, Eric Mayers sent a shot into deep right that barely missed the glove of a diving Julius Stokes and went to the fence. Mayers turned a triple while both Weymouth and Denton scored for a 2-0 Hanover lead.

Dragum said that Mayer’s shot to right completely changed the game. “If that kid makes the catch on one of those fly balls early, it was with two outs, it would have been a dogfight.”

But instead, the Hanover bats kept rocking.

Jared Lipscombe (2 for 2, 3 RBI) then sent a shot up the middle scoring Mayers and Lipscombe advanced to second on a baulk. Stanley then walked Thorton Glasebrook and it became apparent that his confidence was crumbing when he walked Beau Flinchum on four pitches to load the bases.

A walk of Brian Johansen sent Lipscombe home bringing Hanover back to the top of their order. This time up, Kemler dropped a shot into short center allowing Glazebrook and Flinchum to score for a 6-0 Hawks’ lead.

Varina head coach Adam Griffin saw enough and pulled Stanley, sending Robert Allen to the mound. But the pitching yips seemed to be contagious for Varina. Weymouth sent a single to right but stretched it into a double and when Erb dropped a shot into short center Johansen, Kemler and Weymouth scored for an 9-0 lead.

When Allen walked Denton and Mayers, loading the bases once again, Varina went to its third pitcher in the first bringing Tyler Vaughn to the mound.

Meanwhile, Hanover had been at bat for so long, Kane found it necessary to go to the bull pen so he could keep loose. “I’ve never been in that situation before,” Kane said. “It’s nice though, having batters getting the job done.”

In Libscombe’s return to the plate, he also dropped a shot into short center allowing Erb and Denton to score for a 11-0 lead.

The inning finally ended when Glazebrook flew out to deep center.

Throughout the game, Hanover showed a proficiency for dropping short shots onto the grass beyond the reach of Varina’s gloves. “That’s what I told their coach,” Dragum said. “‘Gosh, you’re not that bad, we just got some nice spots that you can’t hit.’ It’s just luck. We hit some balls hard too but a few of them were just good placement.”

With the substantial lead, Kane could be more aggressive on the mound. “I just knew I needed to go in their and throw strikes, make them get themselves out.”
Hanover added one more in the bottom of the second, and moved to 13-0 in the bottom of the third when Denton drilled a homer over the left field wall. Greg Saunders scored in the bottom of the fourth to create the final margin. 

Dragum said that being without the services of Jake Mayers on the mound has actually worked to the Hawks’ favor. “That’s the funny thing about losing Jake at this time, it makes us go deep,” he said. “It just makes us use other guys so I think if we can keep the district lead it’s obviously going to make us better because these other kids are going to see more innings and get tested.”

Varina .................................000 00 — 0 0 2
Hanover…..................... (11)11 1x — 14 12 0
Stanley, Allen (1), Vaughan (1), Hancock (4) and Peters; Kane, Burroughs (4), Thorn (5) and Weymouth, Setelin. W: Kane. L: Stanley
Highlights: Tyler Kane and Daniel Burroughs and Justin Thorn (H), combined no-hitter; Jared Lipscombe (H) 2 for 2, 3 RBI; Jeb Weymouth (H) 2 for 3, 2 runs; Lane Denton (H) HR, 3 runs
Records: Varina 1-2 Capital, 3-5; Hanover 4-0, 6-1