Baseball: Fast start and strong pitching boost Cox

NORFOLK

After a few weeks of last-gasp rallies and dramatic finishes, the Cox High School baseball team finally took it easy on its white-knuckled fans.

The Falcons scored six runs during the opening two innings and coasted to a 6-1 victory over Battlefield in a Group AAA state quarterfinal Tuesday night at Old Dominion.

Cox (23-5), bolstered by another fine outing by unbeaten starting pitcher Richie Salter and a surprise start by injured leading hitter Austin Erb, cruised into the semifinals after six previous wins by one or two runs.

The Falcons play Hanover (23-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals at Westfield High School in Chantilly. Hanover topped Lake Braddock 4-0 on Tuesday.

Salter improved to 10-0 with five solid innings, while Erb had a two-run single and Zach Bach belted a two-run home run to stake Cox to an early lead.

The Bobcats (15-12), who started six underclassmen, were hitless through the first three innings.

Salter allowed two hits while striking out six and walking two, and Cox's Brian Sagedy tossed two scoreless innings in relief.

The Falcons needed late rallies in three do-or-die postseason games before Tuesday.

"It's a lot more fun to have a lead," said Salter, a senior lefthander. "It's a lot more relaxing. I tend to throw more strikes because it doesn't matter if they get a couple hits."

While Salter faced four or fewer batters in each inning, Battlefield starter John Williams threw 38 pitches in a disastrous first frame - most of them with two outs.

Kyle Profilet singled and Chase Kyriacou delivered a two-out RBI triple. But Ryan Muncy reached when a third strike skipped to the backstop, and Salter singled to bring up Erb.

Erb, a senior catcher, hadn't played since suffering a knee injury in the Beach District championship game. He was cleared earlier Tuesday to play and was inserted as the Falcons' designated hitter.

Erb worked the count full before lacing an RBI single to give Cox a 4-0 lead.

"I've been doing rehab twice a day, sometimes three times a day," said Erb, who led the Falcons in home runs and RBIs during the regular season. "I've just been doing everything to get better. I've been hitting, so it felt great. Awesome."

In the second inning, Profilet singled with two outs and Bach drilled a fastball over the left-field fence to put Cox ahead 6-0.

Brandon Marshall provided Battlefield's only run with a solo homer in the fifth.

An early lead, though, didn't mean it was a relaxing night at the park for Cox coach Bill Conroy, whose team is playing in its first state tournament since 1996.

"Everybody I talked to said Battlefield was a scrappy team, so I knew they weren't going to give up," Conroy said. "Not until that final out is recorded do I relax."

In other state quarterfinal action:

Menchville's game against Northwest Region champion Stafford was postponed until 4 p.m. today because of inclement weather.

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