Baseball: Cox wins Eastern Region title

NORFOLK

The little-used pitcher with the hard-to-pronounce last name kept Cox’s hard-to-believe postseason run going.

Chase Kyriacou – pronounced ker-REE-ock-oo – pitched six strong innings and hit a solo home run and an RBI single to lead the Falcons to a 4-2 upset of Menchville in Thursday night’s Eastern Region baseball championship game at Old Dominion.

Kyriacou, a junior right-hander, pitched only eight innings during the regular season and went without a home run in all 73 of his regular-season at-bats.

But his breakthrough night helped Cox win its first region baseball championship since 1996 and ended the Peninsula District’s three-year stranglehold on the region trophy.

Richie Salter pitched the final inning after a 70-minute lightning delay, helping the Falcons knock off a heavily favored Menchville team that earlier this season was ranked No. 1 in a national poll.

Both teams already had spots in Tuesday’s Group AAA state tournament quarterfinals. Cox (22-5) plays the Northwest Region runner-up at ODU, while Menchville (23-2) visits the Northwest champion. Stafford and Battlefield play tonight for the Northwest title.

Kyriacou lost his only decision during the regular season and entered Thursday with a 4.38 ERA. But he confounded the Monarchs with a curveball and cut fastball, scattering three hits, walking four and striking out one.

“I just had to steer my mind away from pitching in a big game and focus on the mound,” Kyriacou said. “I knew I just had to throw strikes and let my defense play behind me.”

Jharel Cotton’s second-inning home run gave Menchville a 1-0 lead, and Jake Weinreich scored on a wild pitch in the third.

Kyriacou, though, homered to start the fourth inning, and his RBI single was part of a three-run fifth. Chris Taylor added an RBI groundout and Kyle Profilet a run-scoring single.

Salter picked up the save by striking out three of the four batters he faced in the seventh.

Afterward, Cox coach Bill Conroy got an ice-water dousing and savored the Falcons’ first region title in more than a decade. Cox was favored to win the Beach District this season – and did – but played the region tournament without leading hitter Austin Erb. He suffered a torn MCL in the district championship game last week and won’t return.

That injury put an underdog label on the Falcons, who won their region semifinal with a last at-bat rally.

“If you know our ballclub, you know how hard they fight and how hard they play,” Conroy said. “And if you play hard, you give yourself a chance to win every game.”

Jami Frankenberry, (757) 446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com

Eastern Region championship

Cox 4, Menchville 2

Menchville 011 000 0 — 2 4 1

Cox 000 130 x — 4 6 0

W—Kyriacou (1-1). L—Cotton (3-1). HR—C, Kyriacou (1); M, Cotton (3).