PREP BASEBALL: Gardiner, Rossi named 2nd team All-Region I

Coming Wednesday: Find out which players from Culpeper County High School’s baseball team earned All-Battlefield selections.

Eastern View’s baseball team turned what looked like a midseason meltdown into its second Battlefield District tournament championship in three years this season, so it’s only fitting that the Cyclones are showered with postseason praise.

The Cyclones, who entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and earned their third straight trip to the championship game, beating Caroline 7-4, had six players receive All-Battlefield District selections and two others that made the All-Region I cut.

Josh Gardiner and Lee Rossi — both key cogs in the Cyclones’ batting order — earned first team All-Battlefield honors last week and were named second team All-Region I on Monday.

Gardiner, a first team All-State selection as a second baseman a year ago, moved to short stop this season and batted third most of the year. The senior finished his final high school campaign with a .565 batting average, two home runs, five triples, four doubles, 20 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

“He has God-given talent and a tremendous work ethic,” EVHS head coach Danny Nobbs said of Gardiner, who will play at Radford University next year. “You could probably go out to the batting cages tomorrow and see him hitting off of a tee by himself. He has worked at his craft.”

Rossi, who batted leadoff all season, earned his postseason honors with a .478 batting average, eight doubles, 19 runs scored and 10 RBIs.

“He was pretty much our jump start,” Nobbs said. “It didn’t matter if it was the first at-bat of the game or the last, if he got on (base), we scored runs.”

Eastern View (12-10) also had four players earn honorable mention all-district nods, including the Cyclones’ top two pitchers.

Senior Geoff Ward’s record was a pedestrian 1-4 heading into the Battlefield tournament, but a complete-game victory in the championship with seven strikeouts earned him praise from teammates and foes alike.

“Geoff really brings a competitive fire to the team,” Nobbs said. “You really saw that in the championship game, when he almost literally threw his heart out.”

Ward battled an accelerated heart rate during the finals, but got the job done. He finished the regular season with a 2.86 ERA, racked up 53 strikeouts in 44 innings of work and recorded one save.

Tanner May, a junior lefty, burst onto the scene this year with a 14-strikeout performance against James Monroe. He finished the year 3-3 on the mound with a 2.98 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched.

“Tanner brought something different to the team, and he kind of went out there and did his own thing,” Nobbs said. “Plus, he pitched in what might have been the most important game of the season — basically a play-in game against King George, with the winner moving on to the tournament.”

Also earning honorable-mention nods were seniors Joe Stevens and Johnny Whorton.

Stevens, a first baseman, finished the season hitting .364. He also racked up two doubles, eight runs scored and 13 RBIs.

Whorton, the Cyclones’ centerfielder, racked up a .360 batting average to go along with three doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs and nine runs scored.