Last Night In Woodbridge – Playoff Edition
Rhinehart and Moore homer to pace Potomac to a 7-1 win and a 2-1 series lead.
Back-to-back jacks in the top of the 7th inning by Bill Rhinehart and Tyler Moore broke open a 3-0 game as the Potomac Nationals took a 2-1 series lead with a 7-1 win over Frederick on Friday night.
Entering the game, Rhinehart had been hitting just .100 (1-for-10) in the series; Moore just .250 (2-for-8) but both would break out at home to collect multiple hits and fuel the Potomac offense.
Pitching, however, would be the name of this game. Veteran Jimmy Barthmaier would go the first 5⅔ innings and give up just two hits and one walk while setting down seven Keys on strikes, mixing curves with changes and fastballs to keep the Frederick nine off base and off stride. He would allow just two hits and walk just one while striking out seven.
A.J. Morris would relieve Barthmaier in the sixth and go two innings before running out of gas and loading the bases in the eighth before turning it over to Pat McCoy, who exploited the impatience of Miguel Abreu for a groundout to third to end the innings, the lone Frederick run coming on a passed ball that was ruled a wild pitch.
McCoy set down the side in order in the ninth to nail down the 7-1 win and give Potomac a 2-1 series lead, with two chances to punch their ticket for a return trip to the Mills Cup Finals, which they last won in 2008.
That Bisenius guy throws some serious gas. I texted a friend that I was expecting 95 on the gun. He hit 98 and was impressive in a shutout inning. Not reading too much into it, but yeah, I see why Wilkamania will have to wait.
I assure you that he was *not* throwing that hard at Potomac. I’m not a human radar gun, but I can usually tell when someone’s above or below 90. Clearly he was at A+ to get back into form and it appears that the shoulder/back injuries he;s been battling are no longer affecting him.