SA falls in state baseball playoffs

Published 7:09 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Southampton Academy ran into a buzz saw here Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Independent Schools Division 3 state baseball tournament.

Carlisle School pitcher Jake Joyce, a Virginia Tech commitment, struck out 17 batters and limited SA to one hit in a 10-0 victory.

The Raiders end the season with a 9-11 record and a fourth-place finish in the Virginia Commonwealth Conference. They were seventh in the final VIS Division 3 regular-season rankings.

“Considering the competition we had and how young we are, we had a very good year,” said head coach Tim Lass, whose team will return all but two starters next spring.

Lass said Joyce, a junior, threw his fastball in the upper 80s and kept the Raiders off balance with an effective curve ball.

Tyler Lass singled up the middle on the first pitch of the game for SA’s only hit.

Meanwhile, Carlisle touched SA starter Lass for three runs in the first and two in the third and cruised to victory. Wesley Barnes and Blake Drewry pitched in relief for the Raiders.

SA will return all but Lass, the coach’s son, and Matthew Pitts next season.

The younger Lass will play baseball for Hampden-Sydney College.

The elder Lass, who coached the Raiders to a state championship two years ago, said he’s undecided about whether he will coach again next season.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’d like to continue if I could, but it takes a lot of time from work (at International Paper). Also, if Tyler happens to play a lot next season, I’ll be going up (to Hampden-Sydney) to see him play. It’s up in the air right now.”