FAUQUIER, VA—What a difference a day makes in baseball. After struggling mightily against Fauquier’s pitchers in a 2-1 loss on Sunday afternoon, the Senators trounced the Gator pitchers for eight runs while collecting 11 hits on Tuesday evening. The Senator pitching was just as dominant, allowing zero runs while striking out nine collectively in an 8-0 Senators win at Fauquier High School.
Justin Bunkis started the offensive explosion by hitting a mammoth solo homerun over the left center field wall in the top of the second inning. The homerun was his second of the young season.
The Gator pitcher then settled down and kept the Senator bats quiet until the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, Kevin Hansen singled to start off the inning and was advanced to second on an Adam Kuchemba single. Mike Genovese followed Kuchemba’s single with a base hit, which loaded the bases. Reggie Dixon then hit a soft ground ball to the Gator third baseman, but the throw home was mishandled by the Gator catcher, allowing Hansen to score. Hansen’s run gave the Senators a 2-0 cushion. Will Bussey struck out to give the Gators two outs in the inning, but the Senators were not done. Matt Lesyk followed with a single that scored Genovese and Kuchemba. The throw from the Gator right fielder was cut off by the third baseman, who nailed Lesyk at second, ending the inning.
In the eighth inning, the Senators picked up right where they left off in the seventh. Joe Hughes reached on an error by the Gator shortstop to start the inning. He then proceeded to steal second. Bunkis advanced Hughes to third by grounding out to the shortstop. Andrew Fritz followed Bunkis with an RBI double to the right center field gap, scoring Hughes. Fritz advanced to third on a wild pitch by the new Gator pitcher. In his first plate appearance of the season, Will Naylor capitalized on the wild pitch by driving in Fritz with an RBI single to right field. Genovese hit into a double play to end the Senator half of the eighth inning.
Reggie Dixon started the Senator ninth by drawing a walk. Dixon advanced to second by swiping his second stolen base of the evening. The Gator pitcher put Will Bussey on first by hitting him with a pitch. With men on first and second, Lesyk delivered his second clutch single of the game, loading the bases for Bunkis. Bunkis continued his torrid hitting by driving in two runs with a laser single up the middle to complete the Senator offense for the evening.
Not to be lost in the offensive fireworks was the pitching performance of Billy Tinsley and John Adams. Tinsley shut the Gators down in six innings of masterful pitching and was credited with his first victory of the season. He allowed only two hits and struck out five. John Adams was just as flawless in his three innings of work, allowing only one hit while striking out four.
Bunkis finished with two hits and three RBIs on the evening while Lesyk contributed with two hits and two RBIs for the aggressive Senators.
The Senators return home tomorrow night to take on the Reston Hawks at Waters Field. The game is scheduled to start at 7 pm.