Sports

Fairfax Turns Loss to Vienna Post 180 Into Playoffs Victory

Post 177 will take on Springfield Post 24 in the championship game tonight.

Fairfax Post 177 turned around a devastating 11-4 loss to Vienna Post 180 earlier this week to a 18-6 victory against the same team Wednesday night.

On Monday, of the American Legion 17th District Tournament. Last night, a shallow bullpen — because of vacations and illnesses — and a stumped offense contributed to Vienna's loss.

Post 180 scored most of their runs in the first inning, taking advantage of two walks and an error — along with a line drive single from Hanson and an RBI single from Mario Pomponio — to go up 4-0 heading into the second.

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Fairfax took back two of those runs in the top of the second, and Vienna responded with one more in the third thanks to an RBI from Hanson.

Fairfax chipped away at the lead in the third inning, scoring two more runs to put them one run behind. Post 177 blew past Vienna to grab the lead in the fourth, putting Vienna at a 10-5 deficit. Fairfax would continue to dominate offensively for the rest of the game, putting the final score at 18-6.

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Vienna went through four pitchers — Ryan Corrigan, Brandon Chandler, Chris Hanson and John Beck — who gave up 13 hits and 11 walks, and struck out 10 combined.

Typically a dominant offensive squad, Vienna put up six hits and struck out seven times.

"I thought, because we started scoring so early, we could get to that [their pitcher] and score more runs, but it just didn't happen," Werman said. "We really struggle against the soft curveball guys. They're not patient enough to try to go to right, and when they do they're popping it up."

Fairfax will play Springfield Post 24 in the championship game at 7 p.m. today at Waters Field. If they win tonight, they must win again Friday night to earn the American Legion 17th District Championship title and a berth in the state tournament.

Game statistics

Fairfax Post 177

Hits: Chris Hanson (single), Mario Pomponio (single), Joe Corrigan (single, triple), Brandon Chandler (single), Eli Facenda (single)
RBI: Justin Padgett (1), Pomponio (1), Corrigan (1), Hanson (1)

Vienna Post 180

Hits: Bobby Bray (single), Nick Priftis (two singles), Nolan Kime (two singles), Herminio Azor (two singles), Evan Bray (three singles, double), Zachary Hoeth (single), Joe Priftis (single)
RBI: N. Priftis (2), Matt Spaulding (1), Alex Torres (2), E. Bray (6), Kim (1), Hoeth (1), Azor (1), Kyle Hatterick (1), Brandon Waite (1)


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