LCA state's first-ever NABF 14-and-under World Series champ

ALTAVISTA — After a sweltering weekend at War Memorial Park, nothing could have been more refreshing than the surprise ice shower Liberty Christian Academy 14-and-under baseball coach Mike Morris got at home plate Sunday afternoon at War Memorial Park.

The Bulldogs rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the last two innings to edge the Long Island Titans 4-3 in the NABF Sophomore World Series championship game, becoming the first Virginia team since the tournament started in 1974 to claim the title.

“It’s really great,” said Jesse Stinnett, an Amherst pickup who picked up the win in relief. “I’ve played in some (Dixie Youth) World Series before, but I’ve never made it to this high a stage before. I was getting scared there at the end, but I knew we had it the whole time.”

Stinnett came in with runners on first and second and no outs in the sixth after LCA starting pitcher Stephen Hueber, the tournament MVP, gave up a leadoff double to Mike Castiglie and back-to-back singles to Chris Faison and Anthony Costales.

He proceeded to strike out sixth batter Nick Cosmo before starting a 1-6-3 double play on a comebacker by Connor Powers, who had ended a fourth-inning rally in the same fashion.

“Jesse Stinnett came in at the end and he just shut them down for two innings,” said Morris, who was also celebrating his 42nd birthday. “He pitched fantastic.”

The Bulldogs, who went 7-0 in the tournament to finish their season at 20-1, got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when Josh Barrick doubled down the right-field line and scored on Matt Lewis’ two-out bloop single to left center.

The bottom of the seventh inning was all about sacrifice for LCA, starting with sixth batter Bryan Pollard, who was hit by a pitch from Long Island starter Pat Leonard.

“He took one for the team,” Morris said. “(Down in the count) 0-2, he took a curveball in the back. That was a big play.”

“That’s what got us going and we just finished it off,” Pollard added.

Hueber, who shifted to first base when Stinnett came in to pitch, then put down a sacrifice bunt to the third-base side in his only at-bat, forcing Leonard to hurry his throw to first. It sailed high, pulling Castiglie off the bag and allowing Stinnett to come home with the tying run as the ball bounced out of his glove.

Stinnett then bunted back to fellow relief pitcher Bryce Keller, moving Hueber into scoring position with one out. After Keller walked ninth batter Jeremiah Kirkland, he threw a wild pitch that sent runners to second and third, reducing the chance for an inning-ending double play.

With the Titans’ infield drawn in, Zach Clinton drove in the winning run with a hard-hit grounder that bounced over the glove of shortstop Jesse Berardi, who had made several smooth putouts throughout the tournament.

“I don’t like playing my infield up,” Long Island coach Chris Phelan said. “That’s usually what happens, something finds a hole and that’s exactly what happened. The kid did a good piece of hitting, just put the ball back up the middle and when the infield’s in, it’s real tough to get to that ball.”

LCA, meanwhile, shrugged off a couple errors that allowed the Titans to tie the game in the third and take a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

“If someone made one bad play, they kept their head up and just pushed through,” Pollard said. “We just held our ground and fought through it.”