(Vienna, VA) – Chantilly’s varsity baseball team used the long ball and clutch pitching to knock off first place Oakton Monday night in a Concorde District showdown key to the regular season championship and post-season seeding. The win pulls the Chargers into a first place tie with Oakton with one regular season game remaining for each squad. 

 

Oakton sprinted out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on four base hits and three Charger errors, but Chantilly got a run back in the 3^rd on the strength of center fielder Chris Gentile’s solo home run to deep center. In the 4^th inning left fielder Patrick Moore started a two-out rally for the Chargers with single to right. Shortstop Chris Yates followed with a double to the right field corner to put two men in scoring position. First baseman Brian King then hammered a 2-2 offering over the fence in center field for a 3-run home run to put the Chargers up 4-2. Chantilly would add two more runs in the 5^th. After third baseman Max Langford flied out to right leading off the inning, catcher Keith Morrisroe worked the count for a walk and designated hitter Will Christopher was hit by a pitch to give the Chargers two base runners. Another Moore base hit, an RBI fielder’s choice by Yates and an RBI single to short right by King pushed the Chantilly lead to 6-2. While the Cougars rallied for 3 runs in their half of the 5^th, junior John Collela and senior Chris Yates provided 2 2/3 innings of no-hit relief pitching to shut down the Oakton offense the rest of the way. 

 

The Chargers’ pitching performance was led by junior left hander Jordan Johnson who started the game. He went 4 1/3 innings for the win, giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs and striking out 6. In one stretch Johnson retired 11 Oakton batters in a row. Junior John Collela pitched 1 2/3 innings of no-hit relief, striking out 2. Senior right hander Chris Yates picked up the save with a 1-2-3 inning in the 7^th, retiring the top of Oakton’s batting order. Chantilly’s offense was led by junior Brian King, who was 2 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs. Seniors Chris Gentile (2 for 4 with a HR) and Patrick Moore (2 for 4) also fueled the Chargers’ hitting, and Chris Yates had a double and drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.

 

The Chargers are now 13-5 on the season and tied for first place at 9-2 in the Concorde District. They play their final regular season game at home against Westfield Wednesday night at 6:30 pm. 

See the Washington Post article on the game at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502777.html