Chantilly learns its lesson
By Jason Mackey
It may have required a lengthy 50-mile road trip to Forest Park in Prince William County, but the Chantilly baseball team learned a little bit about itself Tuesday night.The Chargers learned that their No. 4 starter can pitch with anyone, a point that further accentuates the depth of Chantilly's pitching rotation.
The Chargers learned – although they had to have known already – that they had a true extension of their coach in senior catcher Keith Morrisroe.
But for the lesson that'll be most beneficial in the long run, the Chargers learned how important it is to work for seven innings against a quality opponent, as the Forest Park Bruins nearly completed a comeback in Chantilly's nail-biting 3-2 win.
“That was a very big win for us,” said Chantilly coach Kevin Ford, whose team carried its 2-0 district record into a Wednesday night showdown with Fairfax, which ended after The Times went to press. “To have some adversity there at the end and still come out on top, I think this was a big building step for us.”
The Bruins, who are members of the Cardinal District and Northwest Region, loaded their non-district schedule with three of the Northern Region's top teams. After posting a 10-0 win over South County on April 3 and a 12-5 win over Westfield last Saturday, Forest Park looked like a force to be reckoned with.
But after a majority of the club attended Saturday's game at Westfield, Ford realized that he had the perfect pitcher to keep Forest Park's offense stagnant.
Junior left-hander Jordan Johnson, who employs a delivery and leg kick comparable to that of Detroit Tigers hurler Dontrelle Willis, kept the ball low, got ahead in the count with first-pitch strikes and threw his curve ball for strikes -- a basic recipe for success desired by every pitcher who has ever toed a rubber.
“Watching [Forest Park] play before, I thought he might be pretty effective,” said Ford, whose team improved to 6-3 overall with the win. “He throws strikes, mixes it up and that's what he has to do to be effective.”
Johnson did allow a hit in every inning except the fourth, when he struck out the side in order. But he minimized the impact of those base hits by not handing out a single base on balls, and the only run that Forest Park scored off him came from a pair of doubles in the third frame.
After posting five strikeouts in five innings of one-run, five-hit ball, Johnson was lifted - with a 2-1 lead - for senior Max Langford.
A calm sixth inning yielded only a walk and a deep fly to center, but two errors wrapped around a pair of strikeouts didn't aid the cause to start the seventh.
Langford then allowed a one-run double to Forest Park's Bobby Schweir, lumping further importance on an insurance run that Chantilly had scratched out in the sixth. After Langford walked No. 2 hitter Jonathon Wright to load the bases, the right-hander eliminated a few heart conditions by finally fanning Forest Park's best hitter with a fastball.
“I don't know how fast he was throwing,” said Forest Park coach John Colatuoni,” but he had to be getting it up there.”
Earlier, with two outs and one on in the final frame, Langford really was “getting it up there,” overthrowing and firing fastballs up in the zone. Catcher Keith Morrisroe -- Chantilly's “best pure baseball player,” according to Ford -- read his coach's mind as he sprinted out of his crouch to settle down Langford.
“Keith is unbelievable,” said Ford. “He saved me a [mound] visit. He recognized that the batter before Max overthrew and struck the kid out, and that he hadn't recovered from that.”
Morrisroe also excelled at the plate, posting an RBI-triple in the first inning to grab the lead. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
“I was just battling, and I blooped one into the outfield ... got a lucky bounce,” Morrisroe said, describing his triple. “It barely got by the guy. He should've got it. It should've been a single.”