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Sports

South County Baseball Motivated by 2011 State Championship Defeat

Stallions will play a different game in 2012, but are looking for a similar deep playoff run.

baseball team was known for home runs and big arms last year as it marched to the . While the Stallions fell short of their goal of an undefeated season, to Great Bridge, they gained valuable experience which should come in handy this year.

The No. 1 lesson?

 “You know you’re not going to get handed every win,” said Kyle Fairbanks, the team’s first baseman and a returning starter from last year’s 28-1 squad.

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The Stallions’ green and white caps have one word on the back—“Finish”—and it should serve as a daily reminder that a state championship is still the ultimate goal. District and regional titles are great, said players like Andrew Rector, the returning centerfielder, but this is a team ready to embrace the goal of winning the last game of the season.

“Any team can get there if they have the talent and drive to get there,” said Rector, who will bat third this year after hitting leadoff last season.

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Fairbanks, who was a strong player in his own right last year, but may have been overshadowed by the run production that came from Mike Perez, Luke Bondurant and Tyler Frazier, said the Stallions need to remember how the state championship defeat felt.

“It’s more motivation to try to finish what all the seniors started last year,” he said. “To get that state championship, we really have to play as a team, maybe even more than last year.”

Coach Mark Luther, who has had about 10 months to digest the loss at Westfield last June, said opponents need to be prepared for a different South County team than in past seasons.

“They have a different image. Body-wise, it’s a big difference between the groups,” he said. “We have guys who can swing it from both sides of the plate. We were dominant right-handed last year. Now we have four guys from the left side.”

The Thompson twins—Cameron and Blake—will be charged with setting the tone for the offense in the top two spots in the batting order and will flank Rector in the outfield. Blake Thompson came up with one of the biggest hits of 2011, drilling a double that sparked a comeback win over Lake Braddock in the district final.

“Those guys run well and control the bat well from both sides of the plate,” Luther said. “They complement each other perfectly.”

Perhaps the biggest difference is that the Stallions will be without a dominant starting pitcher like Evan Beal, who is now at the University of South Carolina. But, Luther said, the Patriot District will be without a professional-caliber arm as well.

“It’s definitely going to be more wide-open,” he said.

Other new faces in the infield include Mike Herrmann, Michael Smith, Danny Gordon and catcher Keaton Tettelbach. Shane Foley, the quarterback who led South County to the football state championship game in the fall, will provide some power as the designated hitter.

South County defeated DeMatha 10-0 in the season opener, lifted by a grand slam on offense and strong pitching by Devin Gould. But the Stallions felt defeat in their Patriot District opener with a 5-4 loss to Woodson on Wednesday night.

Jake Josephs, who pitched in the state championship game last year, said the Stallions relish the chance to be more of an underdog this season.

“A lot of people doubt us, and whoever ranked us ranked us really low,” he said. “Although we lost a lot, we gained a lot, too. And our junior class was pretty much as talented as the senior class last year. We’ve all grown and gotten better.”

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