Orange Post 156 defeats Culpeper Post 330

Ron Counts, Sports Correspondent
Published: July 16, 2008

Before transferring to Notre Dame Academy, Lazaro Torres roamed the halls of CCHS with many of the Blue Devils that fill the rosters of both the Culpeper American Legion Post 330 baseball team and the Orange American Legion Post 156 team.

The rising senior at Orange County High School got reacquainted with many of his old classmates during Wednesday’s border war at Paul Sizemore Memorial Field, and he stole the show.

“We really wanted to win this game,” Torres said. “A lot of the guys here play for Culpeper, and are from Culpeper, so both teams wanted to win this game big.”

Torres went 3 for 4 at the plate with two triples and five RBI to lead Orange to a 12-2 win in a game that was called in the seventh inning due to the slaughter rule.

“He (Torres) really brought a lot to the team tonight,” Orange manager Chris Haney said. “He swung the bat well. The man really has a ton of ability.”

The game was scoreless until Orange’s bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning. After CCHS rising senior Trevor Funk scored on a fielder’s choice, Torres pounded an RBI triple into deep center field. He then crossed home plate for Post 156’s third run of the inning thanks to a wild pitch from Culpeper pitcher Ethan Russell.

Things went from bad to worse for Post 330 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Culpeper shortstop Brandon Scott couldn’t handle a well-hit grounder, allowing a run to score. Then Funk crossed home plate for the second time thanks to an RBI single from Derek Justice that just snuck past the outstretched glove of Culpeper third baseman Brandon Mack.

Justice went 3 for 4 at the plate with two RBI, while Funk finished the game 2 for 4 with a double.

“Tonight we came out and swung the bats,” said Haney, whose club improved to 12-8. “We’ve been going through phases of not hitting very well, but tonight we got it done.”

As if that weren’t enough, a few batters later the bases were loaded and Torres was in the batters box ready to hit, and hit he did. He sent a 3-run triple into deep left center field before Orange pitcher Evan Price brought him home with an RBI single that bounded over second base and into the outfield to give Post 156 its sixth run of the inning.

“Ethan is a seasoned pitcher,” Culpeper manager Jeff Crane said. “I thought he handled some really difficult situations the best he could.”

The final score may not reflect it, but Culpeper — which fell to 5-8 overall — hit the ball well, racking up seven hits as a team. Unfortunately, eight errors and the plethora of runners that were stranded on base were too much for Post 330 to overcome.

“The difference in the game was our defense,” Crane said. “Our pitching was there. You take those errors away and it’s probably a 2-1 ballgame.”