Oakton sophomore Stephen Akridge crossed home plate with the tying run as his teammates rushed from the dugout to mob him. After trailing by four runs in the late innings of Saturday’s Group AAA state final against Monacan, the Cougars were still alive.
Or so they thought.
In the midst of Oakton’s celebration, the second base umpire ruled the wild throw that brought Akridge home was caused by runner interference. Just like that a tie game was a 9-8 loss. The game, the season, the dream — was over.
“After everything that we’ve gone through this year to have the season end on a call like that isn’t fair,” said Oakton senior first baseman Chris Despins. “We didn’t win districts. We didn’t win the [Northern Region]. We didn’t win here. It hurts because we basically have nothing to show for our season.”
The improbable ending came during a double play attempt on a ball hit by senior Colin Michael with one out and runners at first and second. Sophomore Kevin Wager slid hard into Monacan second baseman Cory Minor, whose throw skipped past first base and allowed Akridge to score. But the umpire ruled Wager left the base path to take out Minor’s legs, an assertion Oakton’s coaching staff and players angrily disputed.
“What do you say to your team after something like that?” said Oakton coach Scott Rowland. “I’m not going to tell them life isn’t fair sometimes and you have to make the best of it or some [garbage] like that. We have to accept it, but I’ve never seen a championship decided that way.”
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» Oakton finished its season at 19-8. It is the first state championship for Monacan (20-6), the Central Region runner-up.
» Junior Brandon Padula and senior Carmine Cafiero both hit home runs in a four-run third inning for Oakton, which led 5-3 after that frame.
» Maybe it was the noon start time. The two teams combined for six errors and five unearned runs.
