CHANTILLY- The Menchville Monarch baseball team spent a brief period early in the season ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation. In the state championship game against Hanover, they came out of the gate laying claim to that ranking with a nerve-rattling offensive onslaught.

  Menchville scored five runs in the top of the first before the Hawks could pick up the second out of the inning. With the spectacular arm of Ethan Carter on the mound, it was all the offense the Monarchs needed to claim their first state title 7-1.

  “They’re a great team,” said Hanover second baseman Laine Denton. “They’ve been ranked in the nation the whole year and they pretty much showed us why. That’s pretty much just a great team we played. “

  Hanover head coach Charlie Dragum felt that his team’s offense could eventually get the Hawks back in the game, but the Monarch’s defense proved to be too good to allow such a comeback. “It’s a credit to these guys, Menchville, they didn’t let us back in the game,” he said. “We hit a few balls hard and they made plays, that’s why they’re ranked so high in the country.”

  With senior starter Tyler Kane on the mound for Hanover, the Menchville onslaught began with one out. Matthew Armstead sent a Kane pitch over the wall in left for a quick 1-0 lead. A Jeffery Gray single to short right was followed by a single to right by Devorn Lake and when Jharel Cotton ripped a shot to right, Gray and Lake scored.

  Next up, Logan Senelis-Jose was walked but his sprint to first did not stop until he reached second as the stunned Hanover players were slow to react. Menchville’s Trey Steele then reached when he was hit in the foot by a pitch and the bases were loaded. A single to right by Teddy Brewster brought in Cottel and Senelis-Jose for a 5-0 Monarch’s lead.

  “If you spot them five early it’s a tough way to play the game,” Dragum said.
  Trailing 5-0 with only one out recorded, Dragum brought senior reliever Justin Thorn to the mound and he quickly closed out the top of the first. Then for the next five and three-quarter innings, he tossed a spectacular game.

  Though Thorn had given similar performances throughout the postseason, Dragum was hesitant to start his reliever against Menchville. “Hindsight’s 20-20 but we didn’t know if he could throw longer than one or two because he’s thrown it quite a bit,” Dragum said. “He came out and I think gave us five and two-thirds, and man he looked fantastic. And as he kept going he kept saying he wanted to continue and keep throwing so we just stayed with him.”

  However, the Hanover offense could not get on track against the variety of Carter pitches that they faced. “He really mixes up his pitches really well,” Denton said. “He doesn’t always throw the fast ball down the middle. He’s hitting spots. He’s really hard to get in a rhythm with. He’s everything he’s been talked up to be.”

  Carter took down the Hanover order in the first before surrendering two hits in the second. But he bounced back to erase the order in the third.

  Meanwhile, Menchville tacked on two more runs. A bases-loaded sacrifice from Senelis-Jose in the top of the second drove home Marc Morontini and a top of the fourth single to right by Cottel drove in Lake for a 7-0 lead.

  In the top of the seventh, Dragum brought Jake Smith to the mound and behind his arm the Hawks made quick work of the Monarch slate. “That’s kind of our gateway into next year we hope,” Dragum said. “He’s a junior and we anticipated using him a whole lot more this year then he broke his leg. So he’s kind of been on rehab the whole year and this was a great opportunity for him to get on the field in this situation.”

  Hanover got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when Beau Flinchum led off with a double down the right line. Then with two outs, Jeb Weymouth beat out the throw to first and a single to short by Jake Mayers sent Flinchum home.

  Though facing a seemingly insurmountable hole, Denton said it was important for the Hawks to get the score. “That was kind of an accomplishment,” he said. “That was kind of a way for us seniors to go out. We threw some hits together. It wasn’t as many as we wanted there in the last inning but it kind of showed that, ‘Hey we’re not going down without much of a fight.’”

  Hanover finished the season with a school best record of 24-2.

Menchville…............. 510 100 0—7 10 3
Hanover…...................000 000 1—1   6 2
Carter and Gray; Kane, Thorn (1), Smith (7) and Weymouth. W: Carter. HR: Lewis (M), 1st, none on.