The Shadow
STAUNTON – Covington down to their final three outs and trailing 9-6, rallied for four runs in the top of the 9th inning as the Lumberjacks stunned the home crowd at Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton 10-9 this past Tuesday in a Valley Baseball League game.
The comeback in the 9th inning all started with Carlos Castillo (1-for-4) and Daniel Restrepo (3-for-5) reaching on singles. Then one of two haunting errors in the inning occurred for Staunton. In an attempt at a double play, Wilfred Gonzalez (1-for-5) hit a hard ground ball to the Braves second baseman who then committed a fielding error, which allowed Castillo to score.
With no outs still in the inning and now trailing by only two runs, Kaleb Henry (2-for-3) made the Braves pay for their mistake as he pulled the ball down the left field line for an RBI single as Restrepo scored to cut the deficit down to one run.
Two batters later after Staunton finally got an out in the inning, Thomas Marsala (1-for-5) stepped up to the plate and picked the perfect time for his only hit of the game as hit a hard line drive single up the middle to center field which scored the game-tying run.
After Spencer Williams (1-for-4) was intentionally walked with first base open and runners on second and third, Gregory Melo (0-for-4) hit a soft ground ball to short, who only had one play and was able to get Melo out at first base. However, Henry scored on the fielder’s choice which gave Covington their first lead of the game since the top of the 1st inning when they scored the game’s first run.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, Jorge A. Garcia III (S, 4) pitched a perfect inning to close out the comeback victory for the Lumberjack and in the process earned his fourth save of the season.
Restrepo led Covington with a three-hit performance, while Henry and Chenar Brown (2-for-5) added two hits each. Six Lumberjacks had an RBI apiece.
John Vazquez, who was the third pitcher used by the Jacks’, kept the team in the game following his performance out of the bullpen. In what was arguably his best outing of the season, the right hander out of Barry University pitched 4.1 perfect innings where he struck out a pair all while holding down Staunton and giving the Jacks’ a chance to get back into the game.
Covington trailed 9-3 after the first three innings of the game. It’s the Lumberjacks largest comeback of the season after eight innings of play.
Covington 1 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 4 – 10 11 3
Staunton 4 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 9 10 3
W – Jared Henchek. L – Evan McDade. S – Jorge A. Garcia III
