Making two throwing errors in the opening inning paved the way for two unearned runs Thursday. But St. Albans third baseman Sam Simons wasn’t about to let those be the defining events in the Interstate Athletic Conference semifinals.
Simons, a .475 batting clean-up hitter, leads St. Albans with his bat and he showed it with a line-shot over the head of the Landon left fielder. Simons’ double led off the second inning and jump-started the Bulldogs’ sometimes-stubborn offense in a 9-3 win.
“I really wanted to do something to forget about the errors,” said Simons. “That helped.”
With the win, St. Albans (21-2) advanced the IAC final. The Bulldogs will host Georgetown Prep in the title game this afternoon at 4:30. The Little Hoyas handed Albans its lone league loss, 1-0, last month. Prep and Landon shared first place in the regular season.
“I want to play them,” said Albans catcher Ken Jee. “We want to prove a point.”
Jee had a lot to say with his bat Thursday. Hitting out of the No. 8 hole, the switch-hitting junior collected three hits and four RBI. His two-run single in the second inning gave Albans the lead for good. Jee got it right-handed against Landon lefty Ben Sunshine.
“He had a health issue (torn labrum) that prevented him from batting right-handed a lot of the year,” said Albans coach Dave Baad. “Him getting those hits, especially from the right side, was great to see.”
Also contributing for Albans was ninth-place hitter Matt Bowman. The sophomore shortstop had a two-run double in the fourth inning.
The constant all season for Albans has been pitching. On Thursday, junior right-hander Francis Brooke (8-0) fired a three-hitter. After giving up two singles in the opening inning, Brooke didn’t give up another hit until the seventh. He walked two and fanned five.
“He put the team on his shoulders and the team rallied around him,” said Landon coach Drew Johnson whose team finished 12-10. “We got two inthe first and thought we could rattle his cage. It just [ticked] him off and he got better. He really competed.”
TITLE TALK
» Junior left-hander Danny Hultzen (6-1, 0.20 ERA) will face Prep in the finals today. The only earned run he surrendered this year came against the Little Hoyas in a 1-0 loss.
» Hultzen, also a first baseman, ended Thursday’s game with a sliding catch in the cinders in foul territory in front of the Albans’ dugout.
» Albans won 19 IAC titles in a 21-year span (1976-96). The Bulldogs also won the crown in 1998, ’99, ’01 and ’05.
» Prep and Landon shared the IAC title last year.
