WCAC Baseball All-Conference

If Tyler Costello’s sixth inning performance for Paul VI surprised you, wait until you see what he did for an encore in the seventh.

Costello, a pinch-hitter, had been brought in for All-WCAC second-team DH Charles Beacom for one reason – his ability to hit lefties. Ireton had put lefty Luke Rabiej in to finish the last two innings of the shortened game, which Ireton led 3-2.

After taking two pitches for balls, Costello cranked a fastball over the fence for his third long ball of the season. Tie ballgame.

“Before the game, I wasn’t thinking about whether it was the sixth inning or not,” Costello said. “I just got up there and I was trying to hit the ball. I was trying to visualize getting that perfect pitch, and I did – and it went over the fence.”

After PVI started a huge rally in the top of the seventh to take the lead, they turned to a familiar player: Tyler Costello. Ireton’s new pitcher (righty) Brian Lewis walked Cody Reeves to load the bases with one out. A simple fly ball deep into the outfield would be enough to deliver the runner from third and give PVI the lead. Sure enough, Costello skied to center, and the runner just beat the throw from center.

With a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, Ireton had to score a run to prolong the game, and they nearly did just that, but they just couldn’t cash in.

Robbie Kidd struggled with his location all game, as he hit two batters and twice threw errantly to first on sacrifice bunts, but ultimately with runners on second and third with one out, Kidd got just the break he needed.

Just one liner directly into shortstop Dan Savage’s glove, followed by doubling off Drew Lichtenberger at second to end the game, and PVI clinched their second WCAC title in three years and made Kidd the winning pitcher.

Since the game was suspended, each team had to proceed with their regularly scheduled games on Tuesday, with both teams slated to play in the Virginia state tournament, which meant Ireton had to travel to Richmond to lose to St. Christopher’s – a defeat that would have ended the season, were it not for the rain suspension.

The game took on a slightly different tenor because of the rain delay, as each team knew that they were only two solid innings away from a championship to begin with.

“In a way, on the bus ride home from Baysox Stadium, we kind of thought the Lord was looking out for us because he stopped momentum right there,” PVI coach Billy Emerson said. “They had it all, and we came up fired up, got a big pinch hit home run, and the rest is history.”