There is an old saying that no one comes away a loser in a Little League game. If there ever was a truer example of that axiom it came during Friday night’s District V 9-10 baseball championship between Atlee and Mechanicsville National.

  At an unprecedented level of skill for 9-10 year olds, Atlee and Mechanicsville played a nearly perfect game, going toe-to-toe offensively and play-for-play defensively over the course of nine innings and a span of 2:34 hours. The six pitchers involved in the game combined to strike out 17 batters while giving up only 10 walks. But most astounding, the two teams combined to commit one error and even that was one which often occurs at a Major League level.

  “There were very, very few errors,” said Mechanicsville manager Dave Fose. “Off the top of my head I can’t even think of one. It was outstanding.”

  Atlee manager Rodney Chenault agreed. “To stay focused and to go through all of that,” he said. “A lot of balls are being hit. It’s really easy for a 10-year-old kid to lose focus out there playing almost three hours.

  “The amount of plays that were made in that game were just unbelievable for any age kid, but for 10-year-old kids to be playing like that was just awesome,” Chenault added. 

  But one team had to come away with the district title and on this night it was Atlee.

  With bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Atlee’s Carson Miller sent a shot into deep center that allowed Jack Chenault to come home and break a 1-1 deadlock.

  The two teams took far different routes to the championship game. Atlee breezed by most of their opponents, winning in five innings or less due the mercy rule.

  On the other hand, Mechanicsville fell to Richmond in their opener and dropped to the loser’s bracket. But the National team fought back, winning four straight including a revenge matchup with Richmond, to reach the title contest.

  “I always tell our boys, ‘You’re not going to be the best hitters on any given day. You’re not going to be the best fielders on any given day. You might not be the best pitchers or catchers. But one thing they can never take away from you is your heart and your hustle.’” Fose said. “I couldn’t have been more proud of them for the efforts they put in here.”

  The heart and hustle of Mechanicsville even earned a tip of the hat and round of applause from Atlee following the title game. “Those guys, my hat’s off to them. They played great,” Chenault said. “They pitched well. They made all the plays in the field. Really a class act.”

  Both starting pitchers, Atlee’s Dalton Davis and Mechanicsville’s Dylan Hairfield were impressive, only exiting the game after reaching their 75 pitch limit.

  A defensive battle from the start, the only runs in regulation for either team came in the second inning.

  With two out in the top of the second, Mechanicsville’s Austin Woodfin sent a grounder toward first. Atlee’s Nick Zona fielded the ball then flipped it to Davis covering first. But the ball hit the top of Davis’ glove and as he fought for control his foot barely pulled off the bag allowing Woodfin to reach safely and notching up the only error of the game.

  Next up, Dylan Hairfield drilled a triple to left that plated Woodfin for a 1-0 Mechanicsville lead.

  Atlee answered in the bottom half of the inning. Following walks of Davis and Josh Brown, Michael Warley sent a shot to left to drive in Davis and tie the game.

  Hairfield and Davis reached their pitch limits in the fifth bringing about similar decisions from both dugouts. Because a win by Mechanicsville would force a rematch, both teams switched to their proposed Saturday starters for brief stays. Mechanicsville brought ace Nathan Evans to the mound while Atlee went to Nick Zona; each for solid 20 pitch appearances.

  In the top of the sixth, Atlee replaced Zona with their ace Jack Dragum. “The plan was to bring Jack Dragum in for 20 pitches so we would have him for tomorrow,” Chenault said. “But we were in a tough spot and we had to make a decision. They took their ace out. So we had to gamble.”

  Extended pitches by Dragum would keep him off the mound if the teams moved to an extra game. “We, as a staff decided to go with Dragum and he was just like he always is,” Chenault said. “He came in, got us out of an inning and just pitched flawlessly. That’s why he’s our No.1. That’s why we want the ball in his hands at the end of the game.”

  Atlee threatened to take the lead with two out in the bottom of the sixth after Brown doubled on a grounder over third base.

  A walk of Warley then put two runners on base and Mechanicsville’s Orion Riccardi came to the mound. Jack Chenault took a Riccardi pitch and sent it to center but Josh Durbin made a twisting catch to end the threat.

  It was Mechanicsville’s turn to threaten in the top of the seventh. Riccardi led off with a shot to deep center. But the Atlee defense responded quickly, getting the ball in to third baseman Adam Jewell, catching Riccardi at the bag.
  Equaling the efforts on the mound and in the field were the catching performances from both teams. Mechanicsville’s Conner Hicks and Atlee’s Miller each turned in outstanding efforts.

  “I mean how few pass balls were in this game tonight,” Chenault said. “Their catcher Conner Hicks, I can’t tell you how many runs he saved for them with the blocks. But the catchers, it’s so important the pass balls that we didn’t have.”

  And it was Miller overcoming adversity in the top of the ninth that saved the game for Atlee when a foul tip bounced off the dirt to hit him at the belt line.

  The game was briefly delayed as Miller caught his breath and walked off the injury to eventually set up his game-ending heroics.

  In the bottom of the ninth, Chenault was walked then moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from Zona.

  It appeared Dragum would make the game-winning hit when he drilled a shot to short, but Mechanicsville’s Evans made an amazing stop on the ball to hold Chenault at third and limit Dragum to a single.

  With Atlee runners occupying the corners, Fose made the decision to intentionally walk Jewell and load the bases bringing the recently injured Miller to the plate.

  “He got hit on that foul ball and he sucked it up,” Chenault said of Miller. “He came up and I said, ‘Carson, let’s win this game right here’ and he’s a clutch kid.”

  A deep shot to center from Miller was all Atlee needed to take the win.
  Atlee advances to Abington to play in the state tournament starting July 16 and Chenault feels good about his team’s chances. “I think we’ll do well,” he said. “We’ve heard from many people in the past that our District V is very good baseball and if you get out of your District V you should do pretty well when you get to the state.”

  Though Mechanicsville National left with a loss on paper, they will always have the winning memories of playing in one of the best games in District V history.

  “You can’t get a better ball game than this,” Chenault said.

Mech. (N).... 010 000 000— 1 5 0
Atlee ............ 010 000 001— 2 8 1
Hairfield, Evans (5), Riccardi (6) and Hicks; Davis, Zona (5), Dragum (6) and Miller. W: Dragum. L: Riccardi
Highlights: Dylan Hairfield (MN) 1 for 3, RBI; Nathan Evans (MN) 2 for 3; Jack Chenault (A) 1 for 3, run; Carson Miller (A) 1 for 3, game-winning RBI.