I have no allegiance to either team but I have to agree with those who support changing the weather rule for the tournaments. The kids and coaches work too hard all year to have inclement weather decide the outcome of the season. Perhaps next year VHSL will revisit the rule.

Great pictures, w.

What was he swinging at?

Indian river lost like 10-3 today.

Friday's games at Westfield HS in Chantilly:

3:00 James River v. Bethel

7:00 Lake Braddock v. Colonial Forge


It's supposed to be ridiculously hot all day. Makes me wonder what happens if we get still more thunderstorms?

Last year they played at noon and I think 3:00 p.m. That would've been smarter. Now we're heading into the teeth of thunderstorm time of day.

Maybe we'll luck out and miss the hottest part of the day without incident. Keep your fingers crossed.

Should be earlier games as lights at Westfield are subpar. I'll be interested in other opinions of this. Hopefully will be replaced by next year.

James River beats Bethel 2-1 in 8 innings on walk off Austin Stadler home run.

The lights at Westfield are bad, won't have to worry about the day games though.

Austin Stadler pitched a perfect top of the 8th, then hit a walk-off HR in the bottom half to lead James River past a tough Bethel team, 2-1.

The game featured a pitchers' duel for the first 7 innings. Daniel Marrs held Bethel to 2 singles and only 3 balls out of the infield and walked none, but he hit batters back-to-back in the 5th, then Justin Shively got one of the hits to put Bethel ahead.

Bethel sophomore Jake Maxey walked a tight rope early, getting out of one bases-loaded jam and also getting DP balls in the 1st and 3rd. A 2-out single by Eamon Schwartz, followed by an RBI double by Stadler, tied the gmae in the bottom of the 5th. But Maxey set the Rapids down in order in the 4th, 6th and 7th to send the game to an 8th inning.

Schwartz led off with a single, leading Bethel to bring in its ace, Shively, to face Stadler, albeit on only 2 days' rest. Bethel ran a diversion pickoff play that caught Schwartz for an out. But instead of walking Stadler, Bethel pitched to him. He pounded one ball HR distance but foul, then nailed the first pitch solidly out to center to win it.

Colonial Forge got a 3-run rally in the bottom of the 6th to knock off Lake Braddock, 7-6, in the nightcap.

Colonial Forge will meet James River Sat. at 3 p.m. for the championship.

James River repeats as state champs with a 10-0 victory over Colonial Forge. I have no details other than the score. Also, nearby Powhatan HS won the AA state championship.

The story was simple. James River had fresh pitching, Colonial Forge had used up just about everything just getting to the title game. James River left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings or it could've been much worse than 3-0 at that point, but a 5-run 4th blew it open. Pretty much everyone produced. Austin Stadler went 6 and junior Jake Matthews closed.

It was 100 degrees and we were happy not to have tension to add to our discomfort. Friday's game met our tension and drama quota for one tournament!

In the two games in Chantilly, James River pitchers went 15 innings and allowed only 7 hits, none for extra bases. 2 batters were hit but absolutely no walks were issued. You'll win a lot of games that way!

Daniel Marrs went 7 innings in 77 pitches Friday. Stadler went 1 inning Friday in 13 pitches, 6 innings Saturday in 66 pitches. Seemed like either could've gone longer, and the Rapids didn't hardly need Matthews, the hero of the regional championship game. Oh well, he'll be numero uno next year!

Who'd a thunk it would happen again???

congrats to James River, back to back state champs, very impressive !

And, I might add, the third straight title for the Dominion District!

Congratulations to Daniel and Austin and the entire JR team! Bring all of that with you when you come this fall!

Four years ago, there were 4 outstanding 8th graders on the JRHS JV squad. I had had the delight of coaching them in travel ball up to that point. One day I picked them all up from practice and they were complaining that they couldn't believe how little team spirit and hustle there was -- not just on the JV, but on the varsity as well. The program had never come close to a winning record (school opened in 1994) and usually did not qualify for even the district tournament.

I told those guys that it would be up to THEM not to get dragged down to that level, but instead to set a new standard for the program and to show their teammates how winners went about their business. Not by screaming at each other, mind you, but by going about things the right way and making it clear that it was nothing special, just what was expected of everybody.

Not that they wouldn't have done it if I hadn't said so, but 4 years and 3 months later, it's been one heckuva ride. One of those boys actually transferred to the Governor's School, which was a darned shame for JRHS since he ended up on scholarship to UVA and also taken late in the pro draft (only because he was deemed "unsignable"). Would've liked to have had him! But the three that stayed, they were big time leaders in turning this program around. And they were very fortunate to survive a miserable coaching experience and live to flourish under a new coach who was absolutely everything you could ask for in a HS coach.

Those three boys were senior co-captains this year.

One is on his way to Longwood on scholarship. This is one outstanding young man whom I regularly kid about how he has my permission to court my daughter in a few years. (Except, I'm really not kidding. I'm counting on the power of suggestion.)

The other two were drafted Friday (also "unsignable", 40th round). One was an AFLAC All-American and the other is this year's Gatorade VA Player of the Year. And those two are both heading to Wake Forest.

Things at Wake are light years ahead of where JRHS was back in 2004, so don't get me wrong, Wake is a solid program already and it's not in need of a savior. But make no mistake, these boys intend to win and they intend to do everything in their power to make it so. And I know they aren't the only ones in that incoming class -- one of the top recruiting classes in the country including Buzz Jr. -- who feel that way. It's going to be great!

There's a guy who likes to post on this site that Wake is a "third tier" program in the ACC. It ain't so now. And I guarantee you it won't be in the coming years.

See you at Ernie Shore come 2009! And at Fenway in May ... and in the NCAA's after that ... and then we'll see just how far it goes!

You guys should all really just take out rulers and well, you know what to do with those...

Congrats to JR and to their entire team.

Considering that Buzz is a MOM, it ain't bragging to say, I think I could win that particular contest!

The great point in Midlo Dad's post is that in order for a program to truly take off, the players have to take ownership of their program. It can take a long time to turn around a losing tradition and a losing attitude, but once the players show they're accountable and willing to take that responsibility on their shoulders, that's when truly great things can happen.

Eventually, it becomes (hopefully) a self-perpetuating kind of thing, where future players don't want to slack off of the standard that has been set. This is not say that they'll necessarily be state championship contenders every year, but just that they'll do things the right way, work and play hard, and then you let the chips fall where they may.

That is true, but I'll also repeat that had these guys not been fortunate enough to benefit from a positive coaching change two years ago, all the king's horses etc. could not have gotten it done. But as Colonel Hannibal Smith used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together!"