With walkoff 7-6 victories in their first two 6D North Region baseba;; tournament playoff games, the Madison Warhawks (20-4) were scheduled to play the Westfield Bulldogs in this week’s championship game on May 31.
The high-school teams already have met three times this season, with Madison winning twice.
Helped by an error, walks and a hit batter, Madison rallied from a 6-1 deficit starting in the sixth inning to defeat the Oakton Cougars (15-8) in the semifinal. The winning run scored in the bottom of the seventh when Eli Novario was hit by a pitch in the lower leg with the bases loaded.
“It was a 1-1 count and I was just trying to hit the ball in the air somewhere in the outfield to get a sacrifice fly,” Novario said. “But getting hit by a pitch there was OK. Whatever it takes.”
A batter earlier, Jason Cassidy’s ground-ball and Oakton error on the play tied the game at 6. Mac Lewis earlier had a key double in the inning.
Madison coach Mark Gjormand was confident the Warhawks would rally to win because they were prepared to do so.
“This is a resilient group if every player does their job,” Gjormand said.
In the first-round, 10-inning win over the Wakefield Warriors, staff ace Bryce Eldridge came in to pitch in relieve and struck out three straight batters with runners on second and third to end the scoring threat. Cassidy had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
“I’ve been in big situations like that before on the mound, so I just tried to do what needed to be done,” Eldridge said.
Prior to the region tournament, The top-seeded Madison Warhawks won the Concorde District tournament baseball crown with a 2-0 record.
Madison had a walkoff 5-4 victory, coming against the No. 2 seed Westfield Bulldogs in the championship game of the high-school event. The winning run scored on a sacrifice fly by Cassidy in the bottom of the seventh.
Eldridge, who hit a long two-run homer earlier in the contest, doubled to start the bottom of the seventh. He also was the winning pitcher in one perfect inning of relief to improve to 8-0.
Madison’s other two runs scored in the sixth on Connor Moore’s hard-hit ground ball to the right side of the infield. Madison trailed by 2-0 and 4-2 scores at different times.
In the semifinals, Madison downed the Centreville Wildcats, 10-4, behind a strong-hitting attack. Moore and Lewis each had two hits, Kyle Tyrell had a hit and three RBI, Hector Orozco had a hit and two RBI and Cooper Charneco doubled and he had an RBI.
Eldridge started and got the win with six strikeouts in three innings and he also belted a three-run homer in the contest. Cassidy and Cael Yates each threw two innings of relief.
