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By Jason S. Rufner
Special to LoudounPrepSports.com

VIENNA -- The fourth time was the charm for Stone Bridge softball.
 
In their fourth straight appearance in the Liberty District title game, the No. 3 seed Bulldogs won their first tournament championship with a 3-1 win against No. 4 seed Marshall at James Madison High School.
 
"Last year we were at the final out and lost this game. We've won the region before, we've been runner-up in the state, but we've never won a district title before," Stone Bridge coach Richard Sullivan said.
 
"These girls knew how important this was and they wanted it."
 
Stone Bridge accumulated all of its offense in a four-hit first inning. Michelle Mocabee lined a solid single to center field to plate two runs. Paige Radacovich followed with a blooped infield hit, pushing across another.
 
That was all pitcher Cassie Phillips would need as she kept the Statesmen at bay, scattering seven hits and walking one while striking out four.
 
The senior hurler's only blemish was a sixth-inning RBI double by Lauren Sanata.
 
"I definitely felt like I was on my A-game tonight," Phillips said. "Keeping most of the balls on the ground, and that was my goal, to keep it in the infield and get easy outs."
 
Marshall put a scare into the Bulldogs in the final frame, placing the potential tying run on first base with two outs.
 
Maria Stovall smacked Phillips' first offering into left field, a liner that seemed ticketed for the ground. But Katie Benusa ranged to her left, snagging it on the run to end the game and the tournament.
 
Phillips picked up her 15th pitching win of the year. She was supported by a defense that committed just one error.
 
Sullivan says his team wins with pitching and defense, and he got both in the tourney final.
 
"I told our girls we had to jump on them early," the first-year coach said. "Those three runs were awfully important. We just played our game from then on, pitching and defense. We haven't been in many blowouts."
 
The Bulldogs will host Robinson May 22 in the opening round of the Northern Region tournament. The Rams have eliminated the Bulldogs in the last two regional tourneys.
 

Bulldogs fall in baseball final
 
Through three innings, Stone Bridge starter Nick Fialdini retired every batter he faced in the Liberty District tournament final May 18 at James Madison High School.
 
He didn't make it out of the fourth.
 
Staked to a 5-0 lead, Fialdini gave up eight runs on seven hits and one walk to start the fourth. His only out before being relieved was on a sacrifice bunt.
 
McLean didn't stop until they'd put nine runs on the board on its way to an 11-8 win.
 
"I don't think we've ever given up that many runs in an inning," Stone Bridge coach Sam Plank said.
 
Three of Stone Bridge's five losses this season have come against McLean, which also won the district's regular season.
 
The Bulldogs had already earned a berth in the Northern Region tournament. They will host Chantilly May 22. Stone Bridge beat the Chargers 4-2 March 30.

Jason S. Rufner is a sports writer for the Loudoun Times-Mirror ... check out their great sports coverage at www.loudountimes.com


For more on the Baseball finals ... see Benny Piccolo's story below the box
TurboStats ScoreKeeper Box Score
Stone Bridge 2009 at McLean
May 18 2009 at Madison

Stone Bridge 2009

Player Name                AB  R   H  RBI  BB  SO  PO  A  LOB
Spenser Rositano 2b....... 3   3   1   0   1   1   2   1   2 
Michael Prince rf......... 5   1   4   2   0   0   0   0   1 
Johnny Bladel cf.......... 3   0   0   0   1   1   4   0   0 
JJ White c................ 4   0   0   0   0   2   2   1   1 
Taylor Lambke 3b.......... 3   0   0   0   1   1   1   1   1 
Michael Mattingly 1b...... 3   1   2   1   0   1   8   0   0 
Patrick Thompson lf....... 3   1   0   0   0   2   0   0   2 
Bryce Williams dh......... 3   1   2   0   0   1   0   0   0 
Pat Piccolo ss............ 3   0   2   3   0   1   1   5   0 
Nick Fialdini p........... 0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0 
Total   .................. 30  8   11  6   3   10  18  9   7 

McLean

Player Name                AB  R   H  RBI  BB  SO  PO  A  LOB
Riley Beiro cf............ 4   2   2   2   0   0   0   0   0 
Chris Russo 2b............ 4   1   2   1   0   0   3   4   0 
Sean Fitzgerald ss........ 4   1   1   1   0   0   0   1   0 
Eric Payne c.............. 2   1   0   0   1   0   7   3   0 
Denis Buckley p........... 2   0   1   2   1   0   4   0   0 
Brett Bleiweis lf......... 1   0   0   0   0   0   1   0   0 
Jordan Ghannam dh......... 3   2   1   2   0   0   0   0   0 
Charlie Geiger rf......... 3   1   2   1   0   1   1   0   0 
Ethan Gaba 3b............. 3   1   1   1   0   1   0   1   1 
James Oldenburg   ........ 0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0   0 
Jack Pierce   ............ 0   0   0   0   0   0   4   0   0 
Total   .................. 26  11  10  10  2   2   21  9   1 


Score by Innings    1  2  3  4  5  6  7     R  H  E
---------------------------------------------------
Stone Bridge 2009   2  2  0  1  1  0  2  -  8  11 1 
McLean              0  0  0  9  2  0  0  -  11 10 0 
---------------------------------------------------


ET - Spenser Rositano,
DP -  McLean  3, LOB -  Stone Bridge 2009  7, McLean  1
2B - Spenser Rositano,Bryce Williams,Pat Piccolo,Chris Russo,Sean Fitzgerald,Charlie Geiger,
SB - Michael Prince,Riley Beiro,
CS - Chris Russo,
HBP - Spenser Rositano,Michael Mattingly,Patrick Thompson,Bryce Williams,Brett Bleiweis,

Stone Bridge 2009    IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO  AB  BF
Nick Fialdini....... 3.3  7   8   7   1   1   16  18
 Taylor Tice........ 0    2   1   1   0   0   2   2 
 Ryan Cummings...... 1.6  1   2   0   1   1   5   7 
Taylor Lambke....... 1    0   0   0   0   0   3   3 

McLean               IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO  AB  BF
Denis Buckley....... 3.6  7   5   4   2   6   16  20
Tim Ferry........... 2.6  3   3   2   1   3   10  15
Sean Fitzgerald..... .66  1   0   0   0   1   3   3 

Win - Tim Ferry.  Loss -  Nick Fialdini.  Save - 

By Benny Piccolo  
Special to LoudounPrepSports.com
 

McLean erased a 5-0 Stone Bridge leading scoring 9 runs in the fourth on their way to an 11-8 win.  The victory was McLean’s third over Stone Bridge this year and earned them the District tile. 

Stone Bridge jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Sophmore Spenser Rositano led off with a walk and Sr. Michael Prince (4-5 and 2 RBIs) followed with a single.  They both moved up a base on a deep fly to right by Sr. Johnny Bladel.  Rositano then scored on a wild pitch and Prince scored on a base hit by Jr. Michael Mattingly. 

Stone Bridge went up 4-0 in the second.  Sr. Bryce Williams led off with a double and went to third on a sacrifice by Sr. Pat Piccolo.  After Rositano was hit by a pitch, Prince singled, scoring Williams and moving Rositano to third.  Rositano scored on a balk. 

Stone Bridge added another run in the top of the fourth.  Rositano doubled and scored on a single by Michael Prince. 

In the bottom of the fourth, after going down in order the first three innings, McLean unloaded on Sr. Nick Fialdini.  Juniors Riley Biero and Chris Russo led off the inning with singles followed by a double down the third base line by Junior Sean Fitzgerald scoring Biero.  After Sr. Eric Payne walked to load the bases, Jr. Denis Buckley singled in two more runs to make it 5-3.  Sr. Brett Bleiweis sacrificed and then Jr. Jordan Gannaham singled in two more to tie it up 5-5.  Jr. Charlie Geiger continued the on slaught with a single and then Jr. Ethan Gaba singled in Gannaham to give McLean a 6-5 lead.  Beiro batting for the second time in the inning singled in two more to give McLean an 8-5 lead and Russo completed the scoring with a double scoring Beiro. 

Stone Bridge got one back in the fifth.  Michael Mattingly got hit by a pitch, Bryce Williams singled and Pat Piccolo doubled scoring Mattingly. 

McLean came right back in the bottom of the fifth to score two more to take an 11-6 lead.  Denis Buckley walked and Brett Bleiweis was hit by a pitch.  Jordan Gannham hit into a fielders choice but the throw on the double play attempt went wide of first scoring Buckley.  Gannham scored on a double by Geiger that got lost in the lights. 

Stone Bridge made one last attempt in the seventh.  Sr. Patrick Thompson and Bryce Williams both got hit by a pitch.  They both advanced on a wild pitch and then Piccolo got a base hit scoring two.   

Stone Bridge earned a second seed in the regionals and will play Chantilly at home on Friday night and McLean gets a one seed and will face Centerville.