by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
scontomanolis@digitalsports.com
It turned out to be a pretty nice night at Cosby High School after all.
Two big victories for the second-year school in the Central Region quarterfinals bookended a 20-minute downpour of rain on Tuesday.
First, the Titans defeated Henrico 7-0 in baseball and then the boys soccer team beat Lee-Davis 3-0.
In between a storm flooded the baseball field, causing the game to be called after five innings, and soaked the soccer pitch delaying the start of the match
“We’ve played in this before,” Cosby boys soccer coach Mike Anderson said. “It’s been a wet spring. It didn’t make a difference, we had to go to work.”
Baseball: Long Ball Propels Cosby
The baseball team got their work in before the heavens opened up and were paced by three home runs.
Senior catcher Jake Lowery hit two homers and center fielder Dustin Sollars hit the other as Cosby advanced to the region semis for the second straight year.
Sollars shot came in the first inning with Bradley Shaban on base. Lowery hit a solo bomb in the third inning and then a two-run homer in the fifth off Warriors starter Paul Bateera.
“I just wanted to stay back,” Lowery said. “That guy threw a lot of curves so I just had to stay back. He just threw two curve balls and I just happened to hit them pretty far and hit them out…I ended up doing pretty well.”
Also in a four-run fifth Josh Wilburn added a sac fly and Ronnie Shaban drove in the final run with an RBI single.
Titans pitcher Hunter Ackerman allowed no runs, gave up two hits and struck out seven officially.
Unofficially, Henrico was able to push across two runs in the top of the sixth thanks to two Cosby errors.
But because the rain stopped the game in the sixth, with two Warriors’ runners on base, and eventually ended the game, by rule the contest’s stats only go back to the last completed inning.
“Ackerman did a fabulous job,” Coach Tim Lowery said. “He hadn’t thrown in a while and he did a great job.”
Jake Lowery finished 2 for 2, Bradley Shaban went 2 for 2 and Tadd Bower was 2 for 3.
Adam Toombs and Bateera had a single each for Henrico.
Cosby moves on to face Mills Godwin at 7:30 p.m. at RF&P Park in the semifinals on Thursday. The Titans fell to Deep Run, the eventual state runners-up, in last years semis.
Henrico 000 00 – 0 2 0
Cosby 201 04 – 7 11 0
Bateera and Mansfield; Ackerman and Lowery
Records: Henrico (16-7); Cosby (17-2)
Boys Soccer: Sloppy Field Doesn’t Hinder Titans
Behind goals from three different players the Cosby boys soccer team, like the baseball team, earned a spot in the the region semifinals for the second year in a row.
Ben Jessee, Nick DeProspero and Colin Fitzpatrick scored the goals against Lee-Davis on a muddy, wet field.
The Titans will now look to return to the region title game for the second consecutive season. Cosby meets Deep Run, a 3-0 winner over Matoaca, in the semifinals on Thursday at Lee-Davis at 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats beat the Titans 1-0 in their second game of the season, Cosby’s only blemish on its record.
“It’s the matchup everyone has been talking about,” Mike Anderson said. “We will see what happens.”
Jessee scored on a free kick from about 10 yards outside of the box at the 21-minute mark of the first half.
Three minutes later DeProspero put the Titans ahead 2-0 when he found the back of the net off of a Andrew Mahan header.
With a heavy mist hanging over the field, Fitzpatrick scored the final goal on a Jessee throw-in seven minutes into the second half.
Cosby’s defense suffocated Lee-Davis forward Eduardo Lopez all match not allowing him to get free often.
“That’s a problem we have had,” Confederates coach Ed Kidder said. “Getting him open against good defenses that know about him.”
The Titans surprised many last season when they ended Thomas Dale’s 67-game win streak in the semis. This year there may be a little bit more pressure.
“They’re experienced,” Mike Anderson said. “Thomas Dale was high ranked and we went out there with nothing to lose. This year everyone is expecting stuff out of us but Deep Run has been the No. 1 team all year so I guess we are the underdogs again.”
Lee-Davis 0 0 – 0
Cosby 2 1 – 3
C: Jessee, DeProspero, Fitzpatrick
Saves: Newton (LD) 10; Stowe (C) 4
Records: Lee-Davis (15-4); Cosby (18-1)
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