In the preseason polling of National District coaches, there was one clear consensus: Yorktown is the team to beat. But early in the season, the Patriots were hardly the dominant team in the district.
Yorktown was shut out in its season-opener, 11-0, to Chantilly and started just 1-4 with disappointing losses to McLean, Oakton and T.C. Williams.
Lately though, it’s been a different story. After a 4-2 victory over Centreville, and perhaps the team’s best win thus far, the Patriots have rolled through the National District.
In the past four district games, Yorktown has outscored its opponents 47-5. That includes a 15-2 blowout over Falls Church on Friday, a previous 9-1 pasting of Mount Vernon and a 12-0 blanking of Edison.
In Yorktown's win over the Eagles, the Patriots scattered three home runs over 13 hits, and ended the game after just five innings. Junior second baseman Kyle Toulouse, Jack Bergsman and third baseman Matt Demsky, who mostly filled the designated hitter role last year, all pelted home runs, while Alex Brown had a game-high three hits.
Chris Dola, who is headed to Middlebury to play football next season, Danny Johnsen and Demsky added two hits apiece.
Toulouse and Andy Samora combined for a two-hitter, while Johnsen pitched six innings and struck out 14 in the Mount Vernon win.
The Patriots are the only team in the Northern Region that remains undefeated within the district, and holds a 1.5-game lead over second-place Washington-Lee (5-6, 3-1).
Yorktown easily defeated the Generals in both team’s district opener, 12-1, on April 9.
Under head coach Mike Allen, who is in his 11th season and was named Northern Region Coach of the Year in 2004, Yorktown won the district tournament title in 1996, 2000 and 2002 and went to regional semifinals in both 2003 and 2004. Last season, the Patriots lost in the championship to Loudoun Valley.
The Patriots have upcoming games with Stuart before a showdown with the Generals on April 25 at Quincy Park. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
<b>MEANWHILE, WASHINGTON-LEE</b> had won three straight district games before getting upended, 15-6, by a resurgent Edison team on Friday.
Behind a strong pitching outing from sophomore Tom Edwards, the Generals had blasted struggling Wakefield by the same score, 16-5. The Generals assisted Edwards with an eight-run second inning, paced by Karl Lendenmann’s four RBI’s. Washington-Lee had a season-high 15 hits to notch its third district win, while Wakefield pitcher Sam Kealy took the loss.
In the previous game, Nate Rogers blasted three home runs in an 8-1 victory over Falls Church. Senior pitching ace J.P. Morgan got the win.
Against Edison, things didn’t go quite as well.
The Eagles’ leadoff hitter smacked a homerun in the bottom of the first inning, en route to a six-run first inning. After the Generals countered with a run in the top of the third, Edison again powered for six runs in the bottom of the third.
After three more Eagle runs in the bottom of the fourth, Washington-Lee senior second baseman Mike Wall hit a two-run homer en route to a five-run top of the fifth.