McMenamin, Paul VI Walk Off With Title

Paul VI senior Mike McMenamin singled off the wall with the bases loaded and none out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 win over St. Christopher's in the Independent Schools Athletic Association state baseball championship yesterday in Petersburg.

It marked the Panthers' second state crown in five years in Division I, the largest classification.

Tied at 3 in the bottom of the ninth, senior Reed Bromley led off with a double and junior Chad Morgan reached on an infield hit. Senior Brett Bowers walked to load the bases, setting up McMenamin's game-winner.

After winning the WCAC championship last season and the regular season title this year, the Panthers (27-3) were disappointed to lose in the WCAC semifinals to Bishop Ireton. Grabbing the state title will help make up for that, particularly for the team's nine college-bound seniors, eight of whom will play Division I ball.

The state championship "is equally as big to win and it's equally as difficult," Paul VI Coach Billy Emerson said. "What a great finish for them."

Sweeping Success

Yorktown completed a season sweep of its AAA National District mates by knocking off Edison, 4-1, in the league final last night, the Patriots' 17th consecutive win.

Junior Kyle Toulouse tossed a two-hitter and seniors Alex Brown and Danny Johnson had two hits apiece for the defending district champions. Brown drove in two runs.

Yorktown, which had 10 hits but left 12 runners on base, had won all its district games in 2004 before losing in the National final to Mount Vernon.

Singling Out Comeback

West Springfield strung together six singles in the bottom of the seventh inning to score three runs in a 4-3 comeback win at home over two-time defending AAA Patriot District champion South County in the league semifinals.

The Spartans advanced to the district final at 7 p.m. tomorrow at home against the winner of last night's T.C. Williams-Lake Braddock semifinal.

Chantilly Advances

Chantilly advanced to the AAA Concorde District final for the first time since 2000 with a 3-2 nine-inning win at Westfield in the district semifinals.

Chantilly senior Justin Carwile singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and raced home from first when an outfielder overran junior Danny Bates's single.

The second-seeded Chargers will play top seed Oakton at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Westfield in the Concorde final. Oakton advanced with a 10-0 win over Robinson.