Wright finishes what he started
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By Brian Hunsicker
Published: May 19, 2008
Wright pitched 5 1/3 innings as Forest Park’s starter, then took the ball again to close out the Bruins’ 8-7 win on Monday, giving his team the regular-season Cardinal District title and the auto-matic berth into the Northwest Regional tournament.
In his first stint, Wright overcame first-inning home runs by Viking sluggers Jake Myer and Joey Spadell and Woodbridge’s three-run second inning that closed the Bruins’ lead to two runs.
Still nursing the two-run lead in the sixth, Wright gave way to shortstop Bobby Schwier, the team’s ace, after two straight hits put both runners in scoring position. Schwier got out of the in-ning but struggled in the seventh, walking the first three batters.
“I’ve never done it in 15 years of coaching high school baseball,” Bruins coach John Colantuoni said. “I’ve never done that before. But knowing the situation, down near the bottom of the order, I felt after we got through the big boys and knowing his heart that Wright has, I said, ‘you know what? I’m going at it.’”
His return to the mound wasn’t a breeze, however. Wright allowed one run to score but got a double play, only to hit a batter and allow an infield hit that cut the lead to one. He hit a second batter to again load the bases, but got Kyle Toomey to ground into a forceout at third.
That marked the second straight inning the Vikings (15-6) left the bases loaded. In all, they left eight men on base.
“We just didn’t come up with the hit when we needed to,” Woodbridge coach Jason Ritenour said. “You get the ... tying run in scoring position, we just didn’t come through with the hit.”
Both teams face a bit of a pitching crunch as they head into the district tournament. Forest Park (15-5) will start sophomore Chris Parouse in its first game against the Potomac/Gar-Field winner, Colantuoni said.
The Vikings used two of their pitchers extensively: Starter Josh Robinson threw 65 pitches in two innings, while Tyler Stout pitched the rest of the way. But Ritenour said that Myer was still an option, as was Robinson after just two innings; plus, he added, there were other players available as well.
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