The Lake Braddock Bruins are the VHSL Class 6 State Champions after a day full of exciting baseball wrapped up the 2019 prep baseball season.
Lake Braddock came into the State Championship game after beating James River 9-6 earlier in the day in the semifinals. They faced a potent Westfield squad who put away Ocean Lakes in a continuation of their Class 6 semifinal, 9-7.
The Bruins sent Andrew Schaeb to the mound to face Westfield’s Joe Clancy, a University of Maryland-Baltimore County pledge. Schaeb went into the bottom of the fourth before giving way to Jay Cassady, who also closed out the game against James River.
From there, Cassady finished off the deal, earning the save in Lake Braddock’s 6-2 win to secure the title in the All-Northern Virginia Final. It's the first State Championship for Lake Braddock in baseball since 2012.
Cassady also accounted for two RBI's in the win to bring his total to the day to five, along with seven innings pitched, earning the distinction of VirginiaPreps.com MVP.
“The first game I hit a little better, but the second game I just did my job,” Cassady said. “I honestly can tell you that I wasn't 100% in the second game, but anything to be in this situation. I was willing to go out there and throw until my arm fell off."
Lyle Miller-Green, who'll play at George Mason at the next level, hit a homer in his final High School at-bat that went 40 foot into the woods past the 350-foot marker.
“It’s a blessing to get to this point. It really feels surreal right now,” Miller-Green exclaimed. “We worked out tails off since the end of last season to get to where we are right now, and it’s just been an incredible ride.”
Coach John Thomas brought Lake Braddock back after coming up short last season, and only returning two starters from 2018. Yet, the battle-tested Bruins weren't going to be denied of the ultimate prize this time around.
“We felt on the bus this morning that we were going to win it,” said Thomas, previously an assistant with the Bruins before being promoted to the helm last July. “We really talked about one pitch at a time for 14 innings. We talked about toughness, and being sound under pressure and the team that we have been all year when it matters the most, so to see us come out here and do it in this environment is a very rewarding feeling.”
Rewarding is exactly the feeling you saw in the player's faces in the post-game celebrations, and in the moments after the game, from a dogpile on the mound at the end, to Jay Cassady being swamped by his teammates while doing a post-game interview.
Lake Braddock enjoyed their win and will enjoy it for days and weeks to come, then it is time to work on repeating in Class 6.
