Dateline: Crabtree Reston Smith Field

It was a sweltering day as the two Reston teams met at high noon. Conor led off AGAIN with another home run to deep left. Graham got his first start of the tournament and looked sharp. Marty smashed a double, but was then thrown out as he tried to steal third on a perfect throw from Brendan to Kent for out one. Andy popped out to Kent at third and Sal hit a tough shall fly to short left. Conor drifted back and make a leaping sportscenter highlight catch in shallow left for out three. After one, it was 1-0 Reston American.

Reston American went down in order in the second, as Owen looked sharp. Christian led off with a single to left. Matt walked. After one strikeout, a couple of close pitch calls resulted in a single to left by Owen to load the bases. Coach Grossman put Conor on the mound. With the bases loaded, Shawn worked a walk to score Christian. With the infield in, the next batter, Graham hit a tough chopper to Jordan at first who fired to Brendan at home for out two. Marty then proved to be a clutch hitter and battled for several pitches and finally singled to left to score Owen and Shawn however, Graham tried to score on the play and was caught in a rundown for out three. When the dust settled it was Reston National 3 Reston American 1.

In the top of the third Conor hit a shot to short, which was caught by Marty. Pete walked and Kent hit a shot up the middle where Marty made a great play as he got the ball, touched second, and fired to first for an inning ending double play. In the bottom of the third Conor got the first batter to pop out to Patrick for out one and he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Reston American threatened as Brendon singled, Josh walked, and Tommy reached first on an infield hit. However, Owen settled down and pitched out of the jam. Reston National led off with Matt as he worked a walk. Kent bunted to move the runner to second. Owen grounded out to short to move Matt to third. With two outs and two strikes, Conor threw his 50th pitch. To save him for Tuesday, Coach Grossman went the mound and brought in Kent for his first appearance of the tournament. Kent looked great as he threw one pitch and ended the threat with a strikeout.

Top of the fifth and Reston American fans were getting nervous. Conor led off with a shot over the wall for his second home run of the day. One run game. Pete flew out to deep right. Kent popped out for out two. Sam got a key single to start things off. Brendan walked. Justin got a huge single to score the tying run. Josh came up with a big single to score two runs and the Nationals had to go to the bullpen. Marti got the last out but not before Reston American has scored five runs to turn the game around to a 6-3 ballgame.

Kent looked sharp in the fifth as he retired the side with only four batters. In the top of the sixth Pete blasted a monstrous shot to the woods to make it a 7-3 game. Kent came on in the bottom of the sixth and struck out the first batter. The next batter hit a dribbler to third, Pete charged, spun, and fired to Jordan and first for a great out two. Max walked and Owen then blasted a home run to make things a little interesting. Antonio then popped out to Sam in left and Reston American celebrated a hard fought 7-5 win over a very strong Reston National team.

Coach Grossman said, “I am just so proud of our guys. They battled back from a two run deficit. Our guys never gave up and finally our bats came alive and it was a great game. Graham, Conor, and Kent all did a great job for us on the mound. I have a feeling things are going to well for us as we conclude our suspended game against Vienna tomorrow. “

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