Bruins, Spartans Get the Final Word

On New Year's Day, Lake Braddock senior left-hander Brian Derner lay on a ski slope in Vail, Colo., wondering what he had just done to himself. Broken right collarbone, he learned. He sent Coach Jody Rutherford an apologetic e-mail the next day.

"I felt heartbroken," Derner said. "I was just like, wow, I let the team down."

Derner got back to action around spring break, and he has gone from penance to possible pennants by leading the No. 3 Bruins' slalom through the Virginia AAA Northern Region tournament.

Making his third consecutive region playoff start yesterday, Derner hurled all but the final one-third of an inning in a 3-0 win over No. 1 Westfield at Robinson. The Bruins are in the region final for the third time in four years, thanks in great part to Derner's almost 14 innings of region tournament work.

Also at Robinson yesterday, No. 2 West Springfield advanced to its first region final since 1999 with a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Chantilly. Senior Andy Stallings stroked a two-out RBI double to right center with a full count in the bottom of the ninth inning to score senior Richie McMahon from first base. Junior right-hander Bobby Wahl struck out 14 in a complete-game victory.

Lake Braddock and West Springfield, both of the Patriot District, will meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Madison for the region championship. Both teams have locked up berths in the state tournament, which begins Tuesday. West Springfield beat the Bruins twice by 5-1 scores this season.

Lake Braddock (17-5), with only three players of major consequence back from its 2008 region championship team, did not hit a ball out of the infield yesterday until the sixth inning. The Bruins scored all three runs in the first three innings on a combination of errors, bunts, walks and a wild pitch from Westfield junior sidearmer Danny Thorpe, who threw a two-hitter.

Curveball specialist Derner, who will play at George Washington next season, was just as effective, giving up four hits and striking out six. After he walked and hit batters to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, junior shortstop Ryan Lindemuth took the mound to record the final out, a flyout to right field.

Westfield (21-2) had not lost to a local team and had not scored less than two runs in a game all season.

Derner's "kind of the X factor for us," Rutherford said. "He was there last year and he threw all the big games for us. He was 'The Man' last year. Our philosophy with him [was] just be ready at the end of May. That's when we need you."

In the other semifinal, West Springfield (21-4) was equally reliant on Wahl, who tossed a five-hitter. Chantilly (18-6) stranded seven runners in the last five innings, including two in the top of the ninth.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, McMahon reached on what appeared to be a catchable ball in the outfield for his third hit. Stallings, who had been pinch-hit for earlier in the game, worked the count full and fouled off two pitches before lacing his hit off Chantilly junior right-hander John Colella's 130th pitch. McMahon, running on the full-count pitch, was able to score the game-winner.

"Richie's not the fastest kid, but he ran pretty fast there," Stallings said with a grin.