The Cox Falcons are headed back to the Class 5 state baseball semifinals, thanks to an amazing comeback against a scrappy Gloucester team.
With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, senior Joe Munitz hit a bloop single to left to bring home Aidan Ensogna from third with the game-winning run in a 4-3 triumph.
“I was looking for a fastball early and he gave me one away, which I didn’t like,” Munitz said. “I knew he wasn’t going to walk me because Austin Irby was up next, and he has been pretty hot. So I was just looking for one to hit, and wow, it was a lucky hit, I’m not going to lie. It fell, and I’m just glad to be heading north.”
The Falcons are headed back to Northern Virginia, where they won the state title in 2021. They will face Mills Godwin of Richmond on Friday in the state semifinals at Riverside High in Leesburg.
Munitz remembers well when the Falcons won it the last time.
“I do, I do. I want that again,” he said. “This means everything. It’s my last year. I want the maximum days with these guys, and we’re about to have it.”
The Falcons also got a big game from Riley DeCandido, who had some big hits.
“We talked all week, and Coach told us to be a game-changer,” he said. “I didn’t get it well as I wanted to on the mound, but I’m in the lineup for a reason. I got to do my job.”
And that he did. With the Falcons trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, he hit a solo homer to right-center.
Then in the sixth inning, he hit an RBI double to left-center to cut the deficit to 3-2
He advanced to third and later scored on a bizarre attempted pickoff at first to score the tying run.
“It worked out for us, that’s all that matters,” Cox coach Matt Ittner said. “It’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘What in the world?’ Then, ‘Great job.’ But that’s kind of how the game works. We were lucky to have Riley on third. He has some of the best instincts on the bases. If there was a guy on third base to know when to go, it was Riley DeCandido.”
DeCandido also is excited to be going to the state semifinals. He wasn’t with the team in 2021.
“I’m excited. It’s going to be fun,” said DeCandido, who on Tuesday was named a Class 5 Region A Co-Player of the Year. “We got Mills Godwin next. We’re going to get it done.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com. Twitter @LHRubama
