South County Thumps West Springfield in Baseball Playoffs

West Springfield ran into a college-bound pitcher who was firing on all cylinders Saturday night.

Tyler Frazier, South County’s No. 2 righty, recorded 11 strikeouts and only allowed a pair of hits as he dominated the fourth-seeded Spartans on their home field en route to an 8-1 win in the Patriot District semifinal game.

The UNC-Greensboro-bound senior recorded eight of his strikeouts against the heart of West Springfield’s lineup. Trevor Snook, Connor Tagg and Frank Sturek, the Spartans’ 4-5-6 hitters, put just one ball in play. West Springfield catcher David Pyon, who fanned twice himself, said Frazier pitched as well as he ever has.

“We just weren’t ready for what he had,” said Pyon, who has played with and against Frazier since little league. “He came out throwing fastballs at the beginning and we just weren’t aggressive. They beat us on the aggressive part.”

When West Springfield scratched out a run in the top of the third (as the lower seed, the Spartans were playing as visitors on their home field) to cut the South County lead to 4-1, All-District infielder Luke Bondurant answered with a long home run to left field. Moments later, Kyle Fairbanks deposited a pitch from reliever Wes Stonelake over the fence to make it 6-1.

West Springfield only put one runner on base the rest of the way against Frazier, who walked Taylor Boyd with two outs in the fifth.

“We just didn’t have an answer for it,” West Springfield coach John James said. “[Frazier] was commanding three pitches. Anytime a kid commands three pitches, it’s tough to hit. Hat’s off to him.”

West Springfield starter J.T. Williamson lasted just two innings and allowed five runs on five hits and a walk while striking out one batter. He was replaced after Bondurant’s homer by Stonelake, who allowed two more runs before giving way to Tyler Tobin who faced five batters in the sixth, allowing one run on a double by South County catcher Mike Perez.

“I was using fastball most of the game and as I wear down, I’m trying to mix it up because the second time around, the hitters know what you’re bringing,” said Frazier, who hadn’t pitched for a couple of weeks due to tendinitis in his biceps.

The season doesn’t end for the Spartans, last year’s state champs, who earned a spot in the Northern Region tournament thanks to their win earlier this week over West Potomac.  They’ll wait for more weekend results to find out who they’ll play Friday.

“We’ll take the next two days, flush this out of our system, come back Monday get ourselves ready for Friday’s game, whoever that may be [against],” James said.