Stallions Continue Perfect Run to Northern Region Championship

The further the South County Stallions go in the Northern Region tournament, the better they seem to be playing. On Wednesday, that meant six near perfect innings on the mound from Tyler Frazier and a 3-for-3, four RBI night from Mike Perez to give the Stallions a 10-0 win over Madison in the Northern Region semifinals and preserve a perfect 25-0 record.

Frazier struck out nine – all but one swinging – and harmlessly scattered five hits as the Warhawks managed only one runner past first base. He also helped his own cause when he drove in South County’s first run of the night in the top of the first inning. It would prove to be the only offense he needed.

“He’s on a roll right now, he’s pitching very well,” said South County head coach Mark Luther, who added that constantly improvement is critical to advancing in postseason play. “That’s the name of the game, you’ve got to pick it up. Usually you’re not going to play a 10-0 or 11-1 game in a regional tournament like this, obviously it’s gotten a little out of hand.”

That 11-1 score came in the quarterfinals against Westfield. The 21-1 margin of victory in the past two games is a welcome relief after a pair of close wins in the Patriot District final and the first round of regionals. The former of those was against the Lake Braddock Bruins, who the Stallions will take on for the fourth time this year in Friday’s championship. Luther believes the advantage shifts away from batters as teams see each other more and more, and if the Stallions’ recent pitching performances are any indication, they should be in pretty good shape.

“You would think it would go to the pitchers,” he said. “Granted, at this time of the year when you keep rolling them out on four days rest, they start to get a little bit tired. A lot of it is the conditioning you put in throughout the year and how much you have left in the tank.”

The Warhawks, meanwhile, had no answer for Frazier. With South County already leading 2-0, Jay Kenyon doubled and Andy McGuire followed with an infield single to lead off the bottom of the second inning. Frazier struck out the next three batters to end the inning, and allowed only lone singles in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to ensure the Liberty District champions never threatened again.

Nate Favero started the game for the Warhawks but lasted just two innings despite pitching decently. His replacement, Eli Facenda, was also mostly efficient, but a few mistakes cost him. After striking out Alex Carrington and retiring Luke Bondurant, he served up a pitch that Perez sent over the left field wall to give the Stallions a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Perez smashed a ground rule double over the wall in center field to drive in another run, and he keyed a six run seventh inning with a double that he dropped right at the warning track in right field. One hour and twenty minutes had elapsed by the time that seventh inning started, but South County sent 10 men to the plate and the final game time was just under two hours.

“He’s a co-player of the year and he’s deserving of it,” Luther said of Perez. “He’s been that way all year. He was down just a little bit in the past couple weeks trying to do too much with the baseball, but he’s gotten himself back and he’s taking the ball to all fields.”