Hanover baseball advances to state championship

CHANTILLY -- Bryson Kemler serves as Hanover High School's leadoff hitter and catalyst. But he hadn't been getting on base much lately because of a postseason slump.

"I only had one hit since the district championship game," noting a stretch of four games, he said.

Kemler had two last night -- and they qualified as considerably more than just getting on base.

Kemler hit a pair of home runs, and the Hawks used some clutch pitching from Jake Mayers and some opportunistic defense to advance to the state Group AAA championship with a 3-0 victory over Cox last night at Westfield High School.

Hanover (24-1), in its sixth year, will play for its first state baseball title today at 4 p.m. at Westfield against Eastern Region runner-up Menchville, which was Baseball America's top-ranked team in the country earlier in the season.

The heavy artillery in Hanover's lineup comes from its 2-6 hitters. Jeb Weymouth, Mayers, Austin Erb, Laine Denton and Eric Mayers have combined for 27 homers and 122 RBI.

Kemler had one homer -- in his high school career -- before last night.

"I came out of [the slump] at the right time. That's a good way to end it."

Locked in a pitchers' duel in the fifth inning, Kemler came to the plate in a 0-0 game with Jared Lipscombe on second and two outs. He took a 2-1 pitch from Cox starter Ryan Mattes and deposited it over the center-field fence. It easily cleared a 24-foot-high fence at the 350-foot mark.

In the seventh, Kemler took an offering from reliever Richie Salter and lined it over the left-field fence.

"That guy is supposed to get on base, and we're supposed to get him in," Jake said. "He did all the work for us tonight."

Hanover's second straight shutout came with plenty of tense moments. Jake, who threw a four-hitter in Tuesday's quarterfinals, fell behind a lot of hitters and had eight full counts.

He struck out 10 and walked four -- after walking only 12 in 582/3 innings -- and hit two batters. But he allowed only five hits in six innings, and he got plenty of defense from third baseman Kemler and catcher Weymouth, who threw out two runners and held on to two foul-tips for strikeouts.

The turning point? Cox loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning without getting a ball out of the infield.

First baseman Erb dropped a routine throw from shortstop Beau Flinchum, a weak grounder on a slash bunt caromed off Jake's leg, and Cox's Austin Erb was hit by a pitch.

But Jake managed to get out of the mess. Kemler made a nice pickup on a chopper and got a forceout at the plate. Mattes, trying to bunt, popped out to Erb charging from first base. And then Jake struck out Brian Lee -- with Weymouth hanging on to a two-strike foul tip -- for the final out.

"That boosted us up like crazy . . . I got pretty lucky, but I had some great defense behind me. I can't brag enough about that."

Hanover ------------------------- 000 020 1 -- 3 5 1
Cox ------------------------- 000 000 0 -- 0 6 0

J. Mayers, Thorn (7) and Weymouth. Mattes, Salter (7) and Plymette. W: J. Mayers. HR: Kemler 2 (H), fifth, one on, seventh, none on