Joey Marfori fielded a comebacker to the mound and ran toward the bag at first, well ahead of the final batter he faced, who jogged halfheartedly down the line. Then he tossed underhand to first baseman Grayson Long to complete a masterful complete game that sent the Fairfax National 8-10 Majors All-Stars to the state semifinals.

Joey had total command in the Red Flash'’s 4-0 quarterfinal victory over Fort Hunt on Tuesday, July 9 in Woodstock. With the help of a flawless defense, he faced two batters over the minimum, allowing one hit and one walk. Mixing in more offspeed pitches the second time through the Fort Hunt lineup, he struck out five and threw 60 pitches in six innings, 38 for strikes.

The sixth inning was Joey’s most efficient. Although he gave up a one-out single that broke up his no-hit bid, he retired the next two batters on one pitch apiece.

That set up a semifinal meeting with York County, and Colin Puffer was just as effective on the mound, allowing one unearned run in the first inning of a 1-0 loss that ended the tournament run for the Red Flash.

What a run it was, though – especially considering how it started.

Fairfax National had a nightmarish beginning to its first pool play game four days earlier against McIntire, allowing seven runs in the first inning. But the Red Flash showed poise the rest of the way that proved hugely important as the tournament progressed.

Joey led off the bottom of the first with a single, Andy Valentine followed with a double, and Will Cullum pounded a base hit up the middle to score them both. Mikey Martin and Jimmy Nuckols followed with singles to load the bases, and with two outs, Andre Van der Walt beat out an infield single that brought in two more runs.

On the mound, Liam Koehler and Mikey saved the rest of the Fairfax pitching staff, with Liam throwing 71 pitches in 2 2/3 scoreless innings and Mikey following with 2 2/3 solid innings of his own. Although Fairfax lost 8-4, the Red Storm had reasons to feel confident.

They came together the next day, beating eventual state champion Dulles 2-0. Cedric Kuo, Joey and Colin combined to throw a two-hitter, and Fairfax again got its offense rolling early.

Joey again led off with a single, Andy walked and Luke Hetzler singled to load the bases. With one out, Mikey shot a hard grounder through the right side for a single and a 1-0 lead. Jimmy followed and hit a flare that fell beyond the outstretched glove of the Dulles shortstop into the outfield grass. In a disputed call, the hit was ruled an infield fly, and while that resulted in confusion on the basepaths and an inning-ending double play, Andy scored from third to make it 2-0.

Pitching and defense took over from there. Cedric worked two hitless innings, Joey followed with 3 1/3 innings and Colin got the last two outs for the save. Left fielder Andre threw out a runner trying to advance to second on a hit down the line, and infielders Will, Joey, Andy and Mikey made outstanding plays on grounders.

In the final pool play game against Bedford, the Red Flash had an offensive performance reminiscent of their run through the district tournament, pounding 13 hits in an 11-1 victory.

Joey and Andy again got Fairfax going with back-to-back singles in the first, and they scored on a grounder by Luke and a single by Jimmy for a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Colin led off with a double and scored on a single by Liam. Ryan Choi followed with a single, Joey drove in two with a triple and Andy followed with an RBI single.

In the third, Andre ripped a line drive right at Jimmy, the Fairfax baserunner on third. Jimmy ducked to get out of the way, the ball stayed fair and Andre ended up with an RBI triple. Andre scored on a wild pitch, and the rout was on.

Fairfax ended it via the mercy rule in the fourth when the first four batters reached and then Mikey walked it off with an RBI grounder.

Joey and Andy each finished the game 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Joey scored three times. Colin went 2-for-2.

Fine pitching by Mikey, Andy and Will, who combined to allow one run on two hits in four innings, helped ensure that Fairfax National advanced to the bracket thanks to the runs-allowed tiebreaker. Those four runs in the loss to McIntire proved huge as McIntire was eliminated.

Against Fort Hunt, Fairfax again did everything it needed offensively in the first inning.

Joey led off with a line-drive single to center field. Fort Hunt’s decision to play its outfielders shallow backfired when Andy hit a hard grounder that scooted through the legs of the left fielder, sending Joey to the plate and Andy to third.

Luke drove in Andy with a grounder. Will singled and Mikey walked, and then Fairfax got two bonus runs with two outs when courtesy runner Jimmy dashed home on a wild pitch and Andre reached on an error to score Mikey from third.

Fairfax’s defense had no such lapses with Joey on the mound. Among the highlights was third baseman Will leaping to snag a line drive near the bag to retire the leadoff batter in the fifth.

Defense also kept Fairfax in the game in the semifinal against York. Third baseman Andy and shortstop Joey turned tough grounders into routine plays. In the second, Joey snagged a line drive and threw to first baseman Grayson for an inning-ending double play. And right fielder Ryan made a diving catch of a sinking liner in the fourth.

The loss was disappointing, but the Red Flash proved in five games over four days that they could compete with the very best teams in the state. Manager Josh Cullum and coaches Geoff Koehler and Brian Marfori can certainly look forward to next summer, when this group of All-Stars will be a year older and motivated to make another title run.