Thanks to a five-game winning streak to close the regular season, the Yorktown Patriots finished first in the Liberty District baseball standings to clinch the top seed and receive a first-round bye in the league’s tournament.
Yorktown (14-5, 9-3) hosts its first game, which will be a semifinal contest, on May 14 at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of a first-rounder between the host and fourth seed Herndon Hornets and No. 5 seed Wakefield Warriors.
Yorktown defeated Wakefield, 14-5, and Langley, 8-3, in its final two regular-season high school games.
In the win over Langley, the Patriots took control by scoring five runs in the first inning, then added three in the sixth.
Grayson McCarthy started and pitched five shutout innings to get the win, striking out six.
With the bat, Isaac Hobbs (three RBI), Jack Rucker (two RBI) and Bryan Slattery all had two hits. Coby Casalengo had a two-run single and John Rizzo and Jack Rubin had one-scoring singles.
Against Wakefield, Rucker had three hits, including a solo homer. Rubin added a two-run home run, Owen Woodward doubled twice, Aidan McCracken had a two-run triple and RBI double, Hobbs added a two-run double and run-scoring groundout, Slattery had a two-run single, Rizzo had an RBI double, Keegan Westhoff singled home a run and Thomas Koomey singled.
Yorktown used four pitchers in the victory, with Dereje Reichert starting.
Rucker pitched in relief in both contests, working a total of three shutout innings.
In its previous three games, Yorktown routed McLean, 13-3, and blanked Marshall, 4-0, and the Washington-Liberty Generals, 1-0.
The No. 7 seed Washington-Liberty team is scheduled to face the No. 2 seed and host McLean Highlanders in a first-round game tonight, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. The teams split two regular-season contests.
