Eastern District baseball: Maury and Granby advance to championship game

NORFOLK

Granby ace Greg Abetz turned in another efficient outing – before and after a 30-minute rain delay – during an Eastern District baseball semifinal Thursday night at Old Dominion.

Abetz pitched a complete game to lead the Comets to a 6-1 victory over Lake Taylor, securing Granby’s spot in the district tournament championship game and the Eastern Region tournament.

The Comets (13-7) meet top-seeded Maury (19-3) on Tuesday at ODU for the district tournament crown in the teams’ fourth meeting this season.

The Commodores, who already owned an Eastern Region berth, defeated Norview 5-3 in Thursday’s other semifinal for their seventh consecutive victory.

Abetz entered postseason with a 1.51 ERA, and he lowered that after giving up only an unearned run Thursday. The righthander struck out seven, walked two and scattered five hits while keeping the Titans guessing.

“I want to be a power pitcher but I’m not,” said Abetz, whose fastball is regularly clocked just above 80 mph on the radar gun. “I try to just hit spots and always try to get first-pitch strikes.”

Abetz (7-3) pitched three innings before the rain delay and four afterward. He didn’t toss more than 17 pitches in any inning, and the Titans managed just one hit during the final four frames.

“He’s always around the plate,” Comets coach Robbie Butler said. “So we know he’s always going to give us a chance.”

Six Comets starters had at least one hit or one RBI. Jeff Zeisler hit a solo home run and David Lomberk had three hits and an RBI.

In the first semifinal, Maury’s Marcus Breeden had two RBIS and Doug Hatcher’s RBI groundout in the fourth inning broke a 2-2 tie.

Commodores lefthander Karter Rivera tossed a complete game, surrendering seven hits and a walk while striking out five.

Maury’s Brian Bashara and Steve Overcamp each had two hits, while Norview’s Kurtiss Mitchell had two RBI singles.