Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – A pitcher's duel between three young guns and a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth made for a nail-biter of an opening night in game one of the Longwood Baseball Blue-White World Series.
 
Redshirt sophomore Andrew Gorham delivered the game-winning knock with a single into shallow right field that scored junior shortstop Ricky Jimenez from second base and ignited a White Team celebration after a 2-1 win.
 
"The guys were so excited to be able to compete for nine innings, under the lights, on ESPN+," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "It was a great game, a really well pitched game and a very well-defended game with clutch hitting at the end. It's what we've all been missing the last eight months."
 
But even as Gorham's game-winning knock provided the final highlight, it was returning freshman Andrew Potojecki and newcomers Dylan Saale and Aidan VanVickle who shared the spotlight on a cool Thursday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium. Potojecki and Saale, both freshmen, turned in a pair of masterful starts with Potojecki shutting out White for six innings and Saale surrendering just one run in his six innings of work. VanVickle picked up where Saale left off, taking over in the seventh and throwing three perfect innings to shut out Blue the rest of the way.
 
Potojecki, who made five appearances and one start as a true freshman in 2020, left the game with a 1-0 lead after scattering five hits and striking out six, while Saale held Blue to just four hits while fanning one. The 6-5, 190-pound VanVickle was unhittable, retiring all nine batters he faced while striking out four in his three frames.
 
"I thought Saale was spectacular today," Mau said. "He put up a ton of zeros, and he got us through six innings. I thought he was getting stronger as he went. They were obviously able to put a couple of good swings on him in the top of the second to grab a run, but after that, I thought he was really sharp the rest of the way. Then, VanVickle took over the rest of the ball game. That was really impressive, to see both of those freshman arms complete that game and throw the way they did."
 
The lone blemish on the White pitching staff's night went against Saale in the top of the second when returning freshman catcher Justin Looney roped a one-out double to left field. Eliot Dix promptly drove Looney home in the next at bat with a single to the left field gap. For eight-plus innings that run proved to be all Blue needed, as graduate transfer Nathaniel Brezner-Mendoza took over for Potojecki in the top of the seventh and fired two scoreless frames to take the 1-0 lead into the ninth.
 
"Potojecki, a couple of infield singles put him in a tight spot in the first, but he was making great pitches and got a big punchout to get himself out," said Mau. "That seemed to be the theme. Anytime there was any trouble, he stepped up and went to another level and got the big strikeout to end the threat. He's a fierce competitor."
 
However, after putting runners on base but coming up empty in four consecutive innings, White finally broke through in a way in the bottom of the ninth. After Brezner-Mendoza's two innings of relief work, hard-throwing two-way first baseman Dillon Champagne took over in the top of the ninth. White Team freshman leadoff man Aiden Tierney beat out an infield single to the left side of the infield before a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch put him on third.
 
"Tierney has had an outstanding fall and continues to apply pressure down the line," said Mau. "He's just a tough, tough out to go get. I love what he's doing for us."
 
With runners at the corners, he raced home on a wild pitch to even the score at 1-1 before Gorham's clutch base knock ended the game.
 
"What a well-played game," said Mau. "It was so competitive on both sides. The pitching was spectacular. It was just great to play that type of ball game and have it come down to that final at bat there."
 
The Blue Team will have a shot at evening the series Friday in game two, which begins at 5 p.m. on ESPN+. Blue Team southpaw Zane Eggleston will take the ball opposite White Team right-hander Trey Tiffany.
 
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