WARRENTON, VA—A day after showing their explosive offensive potential in a 24-4 rout of the Fairfax Nationals, the Vienna Senators went back to playing their usual fundamental baseball in a 7-3 victory over the Fauquier Gators on Tuesday night at Fauquier High School. The win gives the Senators a 24-6 record overall and keeps them in first place for the second half of the season with a 7-3 record..
The Gators started the scoring in the first inning. Matt Steele singled to reach base and Tim Alberts drove him in with an RBI triple to give the Gators a 1-0 lead after one inning.
As usual, the Senators responded to the Gators’ run in the top of the second inning. Brandon Daguio drew a walk to lead off the inning. He then advanced to second when Wes Schirtzinger placed a sacrifice bunt down the first base line. Daguio then used his speed to steal third. Daguio scored when Leighton Autrey grounded out the third baseman. His run tied the game at 1-1. Kevin Hansen then reached base on an error by the Gator shortstop and proceeded to steal second base on the next pitch. Andrew Fritz followed by hitting a single to drive in Hansen and give the Senators a 2-1 lead.
After a couple of innings of briskly played baseball, the Gators regained the lead in the sixth inning. Matt Steele walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Ricky Owens single. Both runners then advanced on a passed ball, putting two men in scoring position. Steele then scored on a wild pitch that also advanced Owens to third. Robert Bittner followed by hitting a ball to shortstop Guillermo Martinez, who hurled the ball home to nail Owens at the plate and keep the score tied at 2-2. Dustin Hurdle then drew a walk to move Bittner to second. Tim Brown hit a potential inning ending grounder to the Senator first baseman, but the pitcher could not handle the toss from the first baseman. The error allowed Bittner to score from second because catcher Andrew Fritz was backing up first base, and no one was covering the plate. Bittner’s run gave the Gators a 3-2 lead.
The Senators answered with a big rally in the eighth inning. Tim Guidry led off the inning with a single. He was moved to second by a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Will Bussey. Pinch hitter AJ Lamonda then doubled to drive in Guidry from second and tie the game at 3-3. Wes Schirtzinger followed with a triple to score Lamonda and give the Senators a 4-3 lead. On the play, the Gator shortstop overthrew third base while trying to get Schirtzinger. The error allowed Schirtzinger to score and give the Senators a 5-3 lead. Donald Brown followed with a double. He advanced to third when Kevin Hansen reached on an error by the shortstop. Frtiz singled to drive in Brown and give the Senators a 6-3 lead. Hansen advanced to second on the single. Hansen then stole third and scored when the Gator catcher overthrew the base. Hansen’s run gave the Senators a comfortable 7-3 lead.
After Hunter Hall pitched effectively for five and two thirds innings, Noah Tritz and Steve Barnes came in and shutdown the Gator bats for the final 10 outs. Tritz was credited with the win. The Senators have a much needed off day tomorrow and return to action on Thursday when they travel back to Fauquier to take on the Gators again. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.