After one inning of play, the Goochland baseball team looked like they had a solid grip on the reins of the visiting Mustangs of Monticello. Not giving up a hit in the top of the first, the Bulldogs came out hot in the bottom of the inning and swung through their entire rotation to saddle the Mustangs with a 6-0 deficit. But in the game of baseball, nothing is decided in the first inning.

“When you start a game like that you’ve really got to wonder how you’re going to finish it,” said Goochlan head coach Wes Farkas. “You can’t get much better than that.”

The easy start possibly contributed to later Goochland hardships as Monticello virtually shut down the Bulldog offense and threatened to tie the game by the top of the seventh.

“We got kind of complacent,” Farkas said. “We got in cruise control and we didn’t hit the baseball as well. We hit it, but not as well.”

It was GHS senior Kevin Carroll (2 for 4, RBI, 8 K’s) who managed to finally corral the Mustang threat, knocking home an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth then pitching away the threat in the top of the seventh to help the Bulldogs pull out a 7-4 win.

“I think we were pumped up at the beginning, then we got ahead and we got a bunch of runs. Then we just let up,” Carroll said. “You’ve got keep the pedal to the metal and keep on chucking with that one.”

There was no doubt that the pedal was floored when Goochland first came to bat. Scott Ragland led things off for the Bulldogs by punching a shot between third and short for a single. Next up Carroll dropped a shot in short center and a well-executed bunt by Colby Carter loaded the bags.

A double to deep center by Ben Verlander (1 for 4, 3 RBI, double) drove in the trio for a 3-0 lead and the margin jumped to 4-0 before the first Goochland out was recorded when Austin Jordan’s shot to the left field fence drove in Verlander.

Kyle Tormey drove in Jordan with a single to right center and catcher Matthew Henley (2 for 3, RBI), the last batter in the Goochland rotation, used a single between first and second to drive in Tormey for a 6-0 lead.

It was a Goochland error that allowed the Mustangs to get on the board in the top of the second.

Monticello’s speedy Thomas Estepp (3 for 4, 2 RBI) reached then stole second after drilling a line drive to second that Carter was fortunate to knock down.
With two outs, Josh Shifflett sent a shot to third, which Verlander scooped to make a play that should have closed out the inning, but the throw went over Jordan at first and allowed Estepp to score.

After getting shellacked by the Bulldog bats in the first, Monticello lefty Justin Templeton settled into a groove to hold the Goochland bats in check.
After taking down the order in the bottom of the second, Monticello took advantage of a Goochland pitching lapse in the top of the third when Bulldogs’ starter Alec Moore (2 for 3, SB) suddenly hit a wall.

Moore started off the inning with four consecutive walks, which pushed home Trevor James and pulled the Mustangs within four, 6-2.

In relief of Moore, Carroll stepped to the mound in a difficult situation; bases loaded and no outs.

“It’s a real tough job but I guess all you have to do is throw strikes and keep chucking away,” Carroll said.

The first batter Carroll faced was Estepp, who drilled a shot that hugged the first base line and stayed out of the reach of a diving Jordan. The hit pushed home Brandon Ladd and Garrett Mulloney to trim the margin to 6-4.

But then Carroll came to life, bouncing back with three consecutive strikeouts to retire Monticello.

After another impatient inning at the plate, Goochland found their backs against the wall again in the top of the fourth.

Carroll hit lead-off batter Max Mann and a double to right by Jones put runners in scoring position. Next up, Ladd was also hit by a pitch to load the bags with no one out.

But the Bulldog defense suddenly changed the complexion of the game when Mulloney sent a short dribbler towards the mound. Carroll scooped up the ball and underhanded it to Henley at the plate to get a force on Mann. Henley then fired the ball to first to catch Mulloney and complete a dramatic double-play.

Carroll then got RJ Davis to ground out to the mound, allowing the Bulldogs to escape the threat.

But back on offense, Goochland did little to help their cause, as Templeton retired the Bulldogs’ order with four pitches.  Farkas had barely reached the third base coaching box before the inning was over. “I just finished walking down there and I was walking back over,” he said.

Only one of the three GHS batters took more than one pitch. “That kind of stuff, we’ve just got to be a little more patient,” Farkas said. 

Goochland held on to the tenuous 6-4 lead when they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth and from the dugout, Carroll called out to his teammates, “Get them on and I’ll get them in,” and his word proved prophetic. 

Henley started things off by beating out a bunt to first for a single.
Ragland then joined him on base by dropping a shot in right between Monticello defenders.

That brought Carroll to the plate for one of the most bizarre and dangerous plays the Bulldogs have ever seen.

After a mound discussion by the Monticello defense, both Shifflett at third and first baseman Derek Knight rushed towards the plate shouting “bunt.”

The problem was, Goochland was not bunting. 

“I’m sure in that situation it seemed likely for a bunt but we were already up two runs so I was going to let (Carroll) swing away,” Farkas said. “It shocked me when they (did) that,” Farkas said. “That’s pretty dangerous because I know if Kevin gets hold of one he really could hurt somebody there. That’s a little scary, if I’m a parent or a coach.”

“That was pretty crazy,” Carroll said. “Someone could have really got hurt on that one. I wouldn’t have called for it.”

Carroll said the actions of Monticello players actually made him hesitate for a moment. “I didn’t know what was going on because I wasn’t bunting. I was thinking just to myself, ‘What’s going on?’”

But at the same time, Carroll had no intention of bunting and took a hard swing at the pitch. “I just did my job,” he said. “If somebody got hurt I really would have felt bad. I don’t think they should have done that with that kind of play.”
Fortunately, the ball cleared the charging defenders, sailing past short and into the grass.

Because no Mustang was covering third, Henley turned the corner at full speed then beat the throw home to put Goochland ahead 7-4.

Needing only to close out the top of the seventh for the win, Carroll carded two quick outs. But the Mustangs were not about to be saddled with a loss without a fight. A Davis single to left was followed by an Estepp single up the middle, bringing Tyler Moneymaker to the plate as the potential tying run.

But Moneymaker could not cash in as Carroll picked up his eighth strikeout to end the game.

“Kevin gave us a great outing tonight,” Farkas said. “The key for him is consistency. He’s a hard thrower. He mixes his pitches really well. He’s really coming around. I think he’s really stepping up for us right now.”

Currently alone in second among the Jefferson District teams, next week will prove pivotal to the Bulldogs’ cause.

On Tuesday evening, Goochland hosts Fluvanna. They then take on league-leading Louisa on Friday. After suffering road loses to both teams, the Bulldogs are looking to extract some measure of revenge.

“Our guys are ready to get a shot at them since that loss, since we kind of threw it away in the last inning down there,” Farkas added. “We’ll be ready for them here.”

“That will be a tough week for us,” Carroll said. “We definitely need to beat both of them.”

Monticello ........................ 013 000 0 — 4 5 1
Goochland….....................600 001 x — 7 12 1
Templeton, Ladd (6) and Mullaney; Moore, Carroll and Henley. W: Carrol. L: Templeton.
Highlights: Thomas Estepp (M) 3 for 4, 2 RBI; Kevin Carroll (G) 2 for 4, RBI, 8 K’s; Ben Verlander (G) 1 for 4, 3 RBI, double; Matthew Henry (G) 2 for 3, RBI, run; Alec Moore (G) 2 for 3, SB
Records: Monticello 2-9 Jefferson, 5-11; Goochland 8-3, 12-4