THE SPORTS DESK The authority for sports coverage in the Fredericksburg region.
Players come and go through the Colonial Forge baseball program, but for coach Shawn Zakelyhidi?s Eagles, there?s nearly always one constant: playing for a Commonwealth District tournament title.
During the past 14 years, the Eagles have participated in 10 championship games. On Monday, they won for the fifth time, overpowering Riverbend, 11?0, with one of their best offensive performances of the season.
It was the second straight district championship for Colonial Forge (18?5), which will host either Osbourn Park or Franklin County on Monday in the Northwest Region quarterfinals.
Riverbend (14?9), which has won 10 of its past 12 games, will entertain Broad Run Thursday in a Northwest first-round contest.
?It was fun tonight,? Szakelyhidi said. ?We?ve been in this game a lot over the years. It was great for our seniors to get this trophy. We don?t have a lot of superstars, just a hard-working group that keeps battling.?
Against the Bears, they started the battle early and never let up, riding the strong pitching of Colton Steber and a 12-hit attack that produced a 6?0 lead after two innings and kept building steam.
Nine Eagles collected hits in the game, including two apiece by Cole Migliorini, John Gardner and Ronald Maniece. Gardner also drove in three runs and Migliorini two.
Center fielder Michael Mares went deep in the bottom of the sixth with his second home run of the year to cap off the Eagles? scoring outburst.
?Hitting is contagious,? Szakelyhidi said. ?It all started for us today with Colton Steber on the mound. Then we were able to score some runs and get some ground balls and double plays behind him.?
The senior right-hander turned in a workmanlike job, scattering six hits over six innings and striking out five to improve to 8?1. In the third and fourth innings, the Eagles? defense gave him a nice lift with two well-executed double plays.
?The run production was great,? Steber said. ?It felt so good to have that support and knowing that I just had to go out there and take care of my side of it. We?re really figuring it out now.?
Steber was in control from the start, limiting Riverbend to just three hits in the first three frames. Meanwhile, Colonial Forge?s offense jumped on Bears? starter Nekae Reid with a barrage of timely hitting.
In the bottom of the first, Maniece got the production started with an infield hit and then scored along with David Edwards on a single to right center by Gardner. Designated hitter Davian Escobar followed with a single to left to bring Gardner home and make it 3?0.
The Eagles kept the pressure on, adding three more runs in the second to build a 6?0 advantage. Two of the runs came on a line drive by Shawn Nickles after Maniece had reached on his second straight hit.
?It feels really good to be able to get these back-to-back championships for our coaches,? Maniece said. ?They?ve been doing this for 14 years. We really wanted to win this one.?
Steber exemplified that drive on the mound with his control, and the Eagles? bats continued to give him the run support he needed to notch his eighth victory.
Migliorini accounted for three more runs with a pair of doubles, including one in the fifth, when the Eagles scored three times to push the margin to 10?0.
?We got into a really deep hole and Forge is just too good of a team to do that against,? said Riverbend coach Tim Stimmell. ?But we?ve got another game coming up. We?ll go to work tomorrow and get ready for Broad Run.?
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Riverbend 0000 000 0 7 1
Colonial Forge 3301 31x 11 12 1
NEKAE REID, Cody Campbell (2), Nick Wagoner (5) and Tanner Knecht. COLTON STEBER, Cole Migliorini (7), David Edwards (7) and Drew Mikula.
Steve Franzello: 540/374-5440
sports@freelancestar.com
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