VIENNA, VA--To win close games, a team needs great game management from the coaching staff. During the 2005 season, Vienna manager Chris Burr and assistant coaches Dan Raley and Mike Wallace have proved time and time again that no one is better at in-game management and situational baseball. They showed their baseball intellect once again in a 2-0 victory over the Fauquier Gators Saturday night at Waters Field. No matter what the situation is, the Senator coaching staff always makes the right move and it reflects in the Senators 17-3 record. The win is the third in a row for the Senators and moves them to 1-0 for the second round of games after winning the first round.
Whether it is coach Burr making a line-up tweak, coach Wallace making a mound visit, or coach Raley calling a hit and run, the Senators always prevail and that is a credit to the baseball credentials of the coaching staff. They all have professional experience and the Senator players are responding to what they are teaching. The players needed help from the coaching staff to win on Saturday.
As usual, the Senators took an early lead in the first inning. Tim Guidry walked to reach base and moved to second on an AJ Lamonda single. Donald Brown then walked to load the bases. Leighton Autrey followed with an RBI single to make the score 1-0.
The Senators pushed their lead to 2-0 in the third inning. Guidry walked to reach base and start the rally for the Senators. He then proceeded to steal second. He scored when Lamonda singled to make the score 2-0. The way that the Senators manufactured their second run is a reflection of the way that the Senator coaching staff likes to play baseball. They play situational baseball, and constantly have runners moving so that there is always someone in scoring position.
Two runs was all that the Senator pitching staff needed. Pitchers Greg Holland, Billy Tinsley, and Ricky Fairchild stifled the Gator bats and shut them out. Holland only allowed 3 hits in seven innings of work and Tinsley and Fairchild both pitched no hit baseball to end the night for the Gators. Replacing Holland with Tinsley after the seventh inning was an example of coaches Burr and Wallace pulling the right strings. Holland looked tired during the seventh so the coaching staff put in Tinsley for the eighth and Tinsley struck out the side. Fairchild came in for the ninth and collected his first save by facing three batters and striking two of them out.
Tonight’s victory was a credit to both the players and the coaches being on the same page and working toward the same goal. That goal is getting to Wichita to play in the NBC World Series. The Senators are playing a doubleheader against the last place Reston Hawks tomorrow at Waters Field. The first game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Come on out and enjoy your Sunday by watching the finest amateur baseball in Virginia.