South Richmond batted through their lineup in the bottom of the first inning to score five runs and put Mechanicsville in a huge hole from the start of the American Legion District 11 championship game at Douglas Freeman on Friday night.

  Though Post 175 managed to pull within three, Post 137 answered with five straight runs for an 11-5 win and a return trip to the state tournament.
  Mechanicville faced a huge task in going up against VCU signee Blake Hauser on the mound. Likewise, a slow start on the mound by Post 175’s Taylor Marshall did not help matters.

  Because Marshall has been prone to slow starts, he was given extra warm-up time in the bullpen prior to games. But Marshall said that either the enormity of the championship or butterflies may have kept him from loosening up properly. “It could be,” he said. “I really don’t know. It’s always been with me.” After all, Marshall was going to the mound against a player drafted by the Cleveland Indians.

  “I’ve always told him that he needs to throw two innings before he goes out there,” said Mechanicsville coach Eddie Gates. “Tonight he was a little late in getting loose and the two innings he didn’t get to throw in the bullpen, it came out.”

  However, after the first inning an amazing thing happened. The kid who started only two games for Lee-Davis went toe-to-toe with the kid drafted by the Indians. “He sure did,” Gates said. “He pitched well. I knew he would do a good job.”

  In seven and two-thirds innings on the mound Marshall recorded three strikeouts versus five walks. Over the same span, Hauser notched five K’s and gave up six walks. After the first inning lapse, Marshall gave up two runs; Hauser three.

  South Richmond pushed the lead to 6-0 in the top of the second but did not score again until the bottom of the seventh, when Marshall was nearing 100 pitches.

  Post 175 was in good position to put runners across in the top of the fourth but a bizarre play turned into a deflating exit from the inning. Sam Hartness led off with a single hopper over 137 second baseman Augie Ayers then BoBo Pack was walked by Hauser.

  Next up Kemler bunted and the runners took off on contact. But instead of hitting turf, Kemler’s bunt sailed high into the air causing the runners to stop between bases. South Richmond first baseman Ryan Morrison slid in to make what looked to be a clean catch but the ball popped out of his glove. Hauser then scooped up the loose ball to catch Hartness and Pack in a double play.

  After little offensive production over the first five innings, Mechanicsville came to life in the top of the sixth. Beau Flinchum reached via walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Aaron Adkins. Hauser then walked Sam Hartness to put two runners on.

  Next up, BoBo Pack drove a deep shot to right center that plated Flinchum and Hartness, pulling Mechanicsville within four, 6-2.

  With two outs, Nike Frame singled to second, driving in Pack to cut the Post 137 margin in half, 6-3.

  Marshall took down the order in the bottom of the inning and it looked as if Post 175 would pull closer in the top of the seventh.

  With one out, Will Connerley hit his second triple in two days only from which he could not get home.

  In the bottom of the inning, #12 doubled off the fence in right to drive in #18 for a back-breaking run and a 7-3 lead.

  South Richmond tacked on five more in the bottom of the eighth for a nearly insurmountable 11-3 lead.

  For Gates, mistakes were Mechanicsville’s undoing. “You take away the errors that we made and it’s probably a 5-4 ball game right now,” he said. “But things happen.”

  Regardless, Gates was no less proud of his team’s effort. “I’m proud of the guys, they did an excellent job, didn’t quit, battled all year,” he said. “Some of them didn’t get a whole lot of playing time and they hung in there.

  “We’ll come back next year and hopefully be able to win it,” Gates said.