Resilient Titans bounce back for regional title

The Cosby varsity baseball team provided its fans with heart-stopping moments this season. They’ve come back from large deficits at the last moment and they’ve hung on as teams came back on them.

All the gasps and cheers prepared the Titans and their crowd for Saturday’s Central Region final. Cosby took the crown in eight innings by an 8-7 score over Matoaca at the Diamond.

With one out separating Cosby from celebration, the Titans watched a 7-4 lead evaporate beneath a beating sun. Senior shortstop Logan Walker got the Warrior rally going with a ground ball, through the gap, into centerfield. Ben Smith followed with a grounder to right, which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of designated hitter Michael Howerton. He hit a slow roller to third base and beat the throw to load the bases.

Centerfielder Austin Kilbourne, who had come in as Matoaca’s closer in the top of the inning, worked Cosby closer Danny Mooney to a full count. With the runners going, he slapped a ball into shallow centerfield. Mitchell Shifflett fielded the ball on one hop, but not before two runs scored for Matoaca.

First baseman Forrest Lodge smacked a hard ground ball into left field to bring in the tying run.

Cosby third baseman Tim Perry got the final out of the inning on a ground ball just to the right of the bag. He won a foot race to third base and got the lead runner.

Aggressive running and a simple hitting strategy put the Titans in the drivers’ seat early in the game and worked again as they grabbed their batting helmets for the eighth inning.

Kyle McKay led off with a double to the centerfield wall and advanced to third on a bunt by Matt Daffron. A single by Shifflett brought in what would be the winning run.

Though the Titans would threaten again as Shifflett stole second base – his third steal of the game – and right fielder Christian Hamlett reached on a walk, Matoaca got out of the jam on an unassisted double play by Smith.

The Titans again needed only to hold Matoaca for three outs, and the defense was up to the task.

Hamlett made a sliding catch in foul territory on the first pitch of the inning. Brandon Lindsey reached on a single to left, but Cosby leftfielder Christian Beyer got the second out on a fly ball to left.

Mooney worked the count in his favor and got the final batter with a pitch low and away.

“They’re resilient, they bounce back,” Cosby head coach Tim Lowery said. “A lot of kids would have tucked their tail and that would have been the end of it. We didn’t. We kept battling. I’m proud of our kids.”

The Titans saw the ball well all day. Cosby took a 5-0 lead with a 3-run second inning.

Beyer hit a high, bouncing single to centerfield, stole second and came around to third on a ground ball back to the pitcher by Daffron. Beyer would score on a ball to the backstop.
Shifflett brought in a run on a single off the shortstop’s foot. McKay, who walked earlier in the inning, came in to score. Shifflett stole second then came around on a double by Luke Lowery.

Cosby runners recorded five steals throughout the day.

“We were going to put the pressure on them and see if they could throw us out, and that was the bottom line,” Tim Lowery said. “I’ve got some speed, and the kids did a great job.”
After a tough third inning, in which he allowed three runs, Cosby starting pitcher Travis McQueen retired eight of the next 10 batters he faced.

The Titan offense also had no problem generating runs in the semifinals the night before as they ousted Douglas Freeman in a 15-7 decision.

Although both teams ended with 12 hits apiece, Cosby’s bats outlasted the Freeman bullpen, which utilized six pitchers by the end of the night. In the seventh inning alone, Freeman’s pitchers hit five Cosby batters and walked a sixth, adding three runs to the final score.

Shifflett led the Cosby offensive mêlée, ending 2 for 3, with four stolen bases. He also walked twice, had two RBIs, and scored three runs.

Seniors Ben Sisk and McKay also went 2 for 3, with two RBIs a piece. Hamlett and Beyer added doubles to the Titan onslaught.

Garret Birnbaum pitched five and one third innings with one strike out, and allowed two runs on six hits.

Cosby hosted Eastern Region runner-up Gloucester on Tuesday in the first round of the Virginia High School League Group AAA tournament.