DOMINANT PITCHING, TIMELY HITTING CARRIES FAIRFAX AMERICAN TO LITTLE LEAGUE DISTRICT 10 TITLE 

After he carried the Fairfax American 10-12 Majors All-Stars to the District 10 championship game with his right arm, Jameson Poncy led them to a district title with his bat. 

Jameson lined a two-out, first-pitch, bases-clearing double to right field, and Fairfax American cruised to a 6-2 victory over SYA West on Saturday, July 1, at Burke Field. Fairfax American earned a spot in the state tournament in southwest Virginia in mid-July, the second straight year a Fairfax squad will be competing for the state title. Fairfax National was a state semifinalist in 2022. 

Jameson finished the district title game 2-for-3 with four RBIs -- his run-scoring single up the middle made it 2-0 in the first, and his three-run double gave Fairfax American a 6-0 lead in the third. That was ample support for starting pitcher Jonah Thanig, who took a shutout into the sixth inning and finished by allowing two runs -- one earned -- on three hits while striking out seven. 

Jonah gave up a leadoff double in the first inning but retired 14 consecutive batters from there, a run that ended in the fifth with an error and a batter reaching on a dropped third strike. But he struck out the next batter swinging to end the threat. Jonah was pulled after giving up consecutive singles in the sixth, and Oliver Chapman got the last two outs to secure the win. 

The tournament began for Fairfax American just three days earlier, also with Jonah on the mound, and he was dominant in a 12-0, four-inning victory over ANSLL. Just like in the championship game, he didn’t walk a batter, and he was amazingly efficient, giving up one hit, facing two batters over the minimum and throwing only 31 pitches. 

Fairfax American took a 5-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run double by Gio De Los Reyes, an RBI single by Grady Brooks and a two-run single by Jonah. Michael Risk had an RBI single in the second and Kyle Parker drove in another run with a grounder to make it 7-0. Michael had his second run-scoring single of the game in the third, after an RBI single by Bradley Boucher. Brian Park finished with two hits, as did Kyle, Grady, Jonah and Michael. 

In their pool play game against Fairfax National, the AL squad trailed for the first time in the tournament -- but it didn’t last long. Gio led off the second inning by driving a 2-1 pitch over the fence in center field at Chilcott Stadium. That was the catalyst for an eight-run inning and an 11-4 win for Fairfax American. 

Henry McCarter drove in the next run for the AL with a single, Michael and Logan Hillman also drove in runs, and Jameson made it 8-1 with his two-out, two-run single. Fairfax American finished with 12 hits, including two each by Jameson and Bradley. Logan and Brian each doubled and scored twice. On the mound, Bradley, Jonah and Oliver each worked two innings to keep Fairfax National’s powerful lineup in check. 

In the final pool play game against Coles, manager Kevin Brooks used five pitchers in a bid to keep his arms fresh for bracket play, and the plan worked to perfection as Grady, Brian, Kyle, Jimmy Brixius and Logan each worked a scoreless inning, combining to throw a one-hit shutout as Fairfax American won 10-0. 

Cleanup hitter Gio went 2-for-2 with a triple, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Logan, Jameson and Jonah each drove in two runs. 

That earned Fairfax American a spot in the bracket against SYA East, and Jameson came through on the mound. Working out of trouble masterfully, he retired the side with two on in the first on a grounder. In the second, he induced a popup, once again stranding two runners. And with Fairfax American leading 2-0 in the fourth, he escaped a bases-loaded jam on a popup caught by catcher Grady. 

Fairfax American jumped ahead in the first when Logan led off with a walk and Brian lined a double to left to make it 1-0. Gio made it 2-0 with an RBI grounder. That was it until the fifth, when Henry gave relief pitcher Bradley some breathing room with a two-out RBI single, the third and final hit of the game by the AL squad. 

Bradley took care of business in the sixth, striking out the leadoff batter and getting two routine grounders. Later that same day, Fairfax American’s bats heated up in the championship game, and the team began making plans to travel to Richlands in search of a state title.