The Mechanicsville American 9-10 year old baseball squad hoped to join the Mechanicsville Seniors as one of the few local Little League teams to complete a repeat in the District V tournament. But the youngsters bid came up short last Wednesday when they fell 6-3 to a game Tuckahoe team in the district championship.

  Though the entire Mechanicsville roster gave up inches to the tall Tuckahoe team, their spirit on the field was just as strong.

  “You can see, size-wise, we’re nowhere near the size that that team was,” Manager Mike Morris said. “We played the last two years with our hearts and laid everything out.”

  Coming into the tournament, the youngsters also found inspiration from both a local college standout and high school star. Last season, Mechanicsville practiced with the slogan ‘No excuses’ on their shirts. This year, they adopted a new saying; ‘We before me.’

  “It was so ironic,” Morris said. “Earlier this week on the front page of the sports section was Jake Mayers from Hanover High School who had the ‘We before me.’ He had to learn to play for the team and not for himself and those are the kind of things we’re trying to instill in these kids at a young age so they’re prepared.”

  But the players were most impressed by a visit from UVA standout and former Goochland High School player John Hicks who talked to the team a week after the Cavaliers played in the College World Series. Hicks, who is the cousin of Mechanicsville catcher Cole Hicks, gave the young players words of inspiration.  “This is the exact quotes that he told them,” Morris said. “’Hustle never goes in a slump. Always trust your teammates. Never give up until the last out, you can come back.’”

  Morris took the player’s words and made a small poster with the quotes along with a photo of the team posing with Hicks. “Every day they looked at this and remembered that day that that kid came and talked to them a week from the College World Series,” Morris said.

  Riding a wave of confidence, the Mechanicsville team battled its way to the winner’s bracket semifinals before falling to Tuckahoe for the first time. In their first loser’s bracket game they faced a solid Chesterfield team. “Austin Morris threw against them and just had the game of his life to get here,” Mike Morris said. “And we told the guys, we’ve got to play the game of our life just to get there. And if we don’t get there so be it. But we’re going to know that every game we did everything that we could as a team to win.”

  The victory netted Mechanicsville a rematch with Tuckahoe for the district championship and they wasted little time jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. Mechanicsville got on the board in the bottom of the first when Nolan Caler led off with a double to deep center. Caler then scored when Hicks sent a single down the left line. 

  Mechanicsville added to their lead in the bottom of the second when Garrett Jones sent a shot to third then beat out the throw at first. Jones advanced to second, stole third, then took home on a bunt from Matthew Livesay that caused confusion among the Tuckahoe players. As Jones made the lead 2-0, Livesay advanced to second, then took third on a wild pitch.

  On a sacrifice grounder to first, Livesay scored for a 3-0 Mechanicsville lead.
  Tuckahoe manager Scott Fielder said his players came into the game tight, but also pointed out they were playing a solid team. “I think this is a great Mechanicsville team,” he said. “We battled them just one game ago so we knew that they would be ready to play us. We had no premonitions that the game would be easy. We were a little tight but we finally got to a point where the kids started to relax and started to hit the ball.”

  In the top of the third Tuckahoe began to show their strength. Chris Randall led off with a single to center then scored on a shot to center from Grant Brookfield. Brookfield took second on a wild pitch and third when Holden Fielder reached on a pass ball. A single up the middle by Dillon Thomas sent Brookfield home to pull Tuckahoe within one, 3-2.

  Though Thomas started off shaky on the mound for Tuckahoe, in the top of the third he started hitting his marks, going on to hold Mechanicsville scoreless over the next two innings. “He’s been money for us all tournament,” Fielder said. “I knew Dillon was the only person to have the ball tonight. There was no doubt in my mind that he would accept that challenge and he came through in a big way.”

  Tuckahoe knotted things up 3-3 in the top of the fourth when Brookfield doubled to center sending Chase Muir home.

  Jon Jon Higgins, who had reached on a walk, and advanced to third on Brookfield’s shot, then scored on a wild pitch to give Tuckahoe a lead they would not relinquish.

  Tuckahoe added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth then shut down Mechanicsville to win the title.

  Though his squad fell in the title game, Morris was no less proud of his players and how they bought into what he, along with John Hicks, tried to inspire in them. “Here at Mechanicsville we preach that the lessons you learn here are going to carry with you forever,” Morris said. “Not necessarily on the baseball field but in everything that you do. They’re a good group of kids.

  “Everybody gave everything that they had to get here,” he added.