Once the ball found a home in the outfield grass, the party was on. The winning run chugged around third and sprinted home as the Seahawks frantically piled out of their dugout. Their destination was a rendezvous with Kemmerer, whose walk-off single punctuated a comeback that earned South Lakes a 4-3 victory over Western Branch in a Virginia Class 6 semifinal at Deep Run High.
“This is just a group of guys that believe in themselves and believe in each other,” South Lakes Coach Morgan Spencer said. “We’ve had games like this all year long where we’ve had to come back from big-time deficits, and we’ve always answered the bell.”
The Seahawks will face McLean in the title game Saturday.
Trailing 3-0 and facing the same pitcher who had stymied it for six innings, any ordinary team would have been down and out. But not this collection of resilient Seahawks (20-6). This group has found itself plenty capable of coming back time and time again, with Friday’s four-run seventh inning just the latest chapter in a campaign that has featured a handful of last-gasp wins.
“I don’t think there was a single person on the team that had a doubt in their mind we were going to come back and win that game,” said starting pitcher Campbell Short, who kept the Seahawks within striking distance throughout his 6⅓ innings. “All I have to do with our team is keep us in it. I know they’re going to hit.”
Friday’s rally started when senior Chris Downs hammered a leadoff double into the right-center field gap. With a spark provided, the Seahawks pieced together three runs to bring themselves even. They first scored when a dropped third strike was airmailed into right field, then executed a pair of bunts down the first base line to push across two more.
With the winning run now in scoring position, an intentional walk set the stage for Kemmerer. He came through with a decisive flare to left-center field.
“They intentionally walked the guy before me, so it felt a little personal,” the junior said. “Once they did that, it felt like it was over. I was going to get a hit and win the game for us.”
For the Seahawks’ 11 seniors, the wait for Saturday’s return to Deep Run will be a whirlwind. Their graduation was also scheduled for Friday, requiring them to make the 90-mile trip back to Reston, swap their uniforms for caps and gowns and walk the stage before returning for, optimally, a decent night’s sleep in the Richmond suburbs.
Awaiting the Seahawks is McLean, which knocked off Glen Allen, 10-4, in the second Class 6 semifinal at Deep Run. The Highlanders (18-10) jumped out to an early advantage on Virginia Tech commit Ethan Ball’s two-run home run, which cleared the 385-foot fence in center field in the first inning. They plated three more in the second, and insurance arrived in the seventh when they scored another five runs. Junior Gabriel Pegues delivered a three-run double.
“In the middle of the year, we were kind of just beating ourselves. We were kicking too many [balls] and striking out too much,” McLean Coach John Dowling said, pointing to a string of four consecutive one-run losses. “We’ve eliminated the uncompetitive at-bats. Guys are scratching and clawing and fighting to do whatever they can. And I’ll put our arms out there against anybody.”
In the Class 4 semifinals at Western Albemarle High in Crozet, Tuscarora saw its season come to a close with a 6-4 loss to Courtland. It marked the second consecutive season the Huskies (18-8), who won the Dulles District tournament and captured a second straight region crown, reached the state semifinals.
Dominion met a similar fate, dropping its Class 4 semifinal matchup with Atlee, 3-2, in 11 innings. University of Connecticut signee Cayden Suchy was dynamic on the mound for Dominion (18-8), retiring the first 13 batters he faced. But the Raiders battled back, tying the score when they were down to their final out in the seventh and eventually pushing across the winning run in the 11th with a walk-off single.