William Byrd Concludes Up and Down Baseball Season

Jacob McMillan was the Terriers ace pitcher, first team all BRD selection and Team MVP.
Jacob McMillan was the Terriers ace pitcher, first team all BRD selection and Team MVP.

Determination and heartbreak.  That sums up the 2009 William Byrd High School Terriers baseball campaign.  The Byrd batsmen started off the season with seven returning starters, expecting great things in the Blue Ridge District.  With a four-team district (will be five next year with the inclusion of Staunton River), the Terriers spent most of the first half of the season playing non-district foes like Salem, Cave Spring and Hidden Valley locally, as well as Jefferson Forest, from outside the area.

Starting off well enough, the Terriers had early year power surges from Ryan Beyel, Bradley Mattox and Jacob Clifton.  However, when the second half of the season arrived, the Terriers’ bats, with the exception of outfielder Dylon Hurt, seemed to fall asleep. Meanwhile, the pitching staff was quickly becoming one of the most dominant, statistically, in Byrd baseball history.  Left-hander Jacob McMillan and right-hander Kevin Bowles, both juniors, formed quite the 1-2 punch as starters and senior right-hander Tyler Brown was the team’s closer, coming in and shutting the door every time he was given the ball.  At one point, deep into the season, these three pitchers all had ERA’s less than 1.50.

District play began with a win over Lord Botetourt and then it became hectic from there.  The Terriers and Northside played 9 innings, locked up at one run each when darkness fell, leaving everyone scrambling to find out what would happen next.  After verification, it was determined the game would be continued at a later date, and not ruled a tie, as originally expected.  Byrd then ran into trouble in the form of the Alleghany Mountaineers and their senior left-hander, Ryan Kessinger, who beat the Terriers twice this year, never giving up an earned run.

Rain played a big factor in scheduling and with two games left in the regular season, plus the continuation game, the Terriers still had a chance to win the Blue Ridge District.  But Byrd dropped a game to Lord Botetourt, giving the Cavs their only Blue Ridge District win in two years, and eliminating Byrd from any chance at a regular season championship.

The loss became a motivator as the Terriers went on a six game winning streak, including three in a row over Northside, the Blue Ridge District Tournament championship game over Alleghany, the first round of the Region III tournament against Heritage at home, in a wet and wild affair, and the Region III quarterfinals against Fort Defiance.  The Terriers were one win away from returning to the state tournament, but fell in the Region III semi-finals to Rustburg, ending their streak and the season at 13-10 overall.

After the season was over, (Jacob McMillan, team MVP) the Terriers received another surprise at their year-end awards banquet.  After two years at the helm as skipper, Steve Sizemore resigned as head coach.  With a two-year record of 29-21 and two trips to the regional tournament, Sizemore had maintained the strong Terrier baseball tradition.  However, other aspirations will have him watching next year’s games from the outside rather than inside.

“I want to get in administration and I’ll have to go back to school to get my Master’s to be able to do that.  Whoever takes over next year will have a good solid nucleus returning,” Sizemore said.

Chris Manning was a color analyst on William Byrd baseball games for Fox Radio 910am this past season and is author of the book,” One Team, One Dream.”

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