Baseball: Warhawks Surge in Fifth for 6-2 Victory

The Madison Warhawks spoiled crosstown rival Oakton Cougars' home-opener with a 6-2 victory Saturday.

The Warhawks and Cougars stayed scoreless for three innings, but Madison took a large lead after a solo home run from junior second baseman Nate Favero in the fourth and then a five-run, fifth-inning rally.

With two outs in the fifth, designated hitter Alex Tyroler was hit by a pitch from starting pitcher R.J. Garcia, beginning a two-out rally that would result in five runs. Left fielder Ben Socher followed up with a line drive double down the third base line, putting runners at second and third. Shortstop Andy McGuire took a page from Socher and hit a double of his own, driving in both base runners.

Oakton head coach put in Andy Gross to relieve Garcia, but the Warhawks continued their two-out rally with a single from Johnny Graham to score McGuire and then a two-run homer from Jay Kenyon to give the Warhawks the last of their six total runs.

The fifth also saw Favero hit a double to accompany the home run and single he already notched. He would go 4 for 4.

"I thought the story of the day for us was two-strike and two-out hitting," said Mark Gjormand, Madison's head coach. "I thought we did a nice job with that. We've really emphasized that."

All six of the Warhawks' runs were scored with two outs in the inning, and six of their 10 hits came with two strikes against the batter.

Gjormand also praised his starting pitcher, Eli Facenda, for keeping the Cougars from being able to do the same damage to them. Facenda, who has signed to play Division 1 baseball with Lehigh University next year, struck out three and had no walks.

Gjormand put in relief pitcher Andy McGuire, who started the game at shortstop, for Facenda to start the sixth inning, and the Cougars threatened to make a comeback.

With two outs in the inning, McGuire gave up two runs and loaded the bases. But he was able to put together a strikeout against right fielder John Titus to end the inning.

"I never had any expectation we'd shut them out," Gjormand said. "If we did, I would've been really amazed because they're a great baseball team. They've got great hitters one through nine in that lineup."

But the Cougars could not seem to get their runners home, having scored only two of their seven runners in scoring position.

"I think the big thing is when we got guys in scoring position, we just didn't get them in and they did," said Justin Janis, Oakton's head coach. "And that's a credit to them. They came through when they needed to."

Madison's next game is at 6:30 p.m. March 22 at home against Fairfax High.