Fogus Tosses Five Scoreless Innings as Aces Beat South County Metro Braves, 6-3
University of Richmond freshman earns second victory of the summer as Alexandria improves to 11-10.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Shota Fogus (University of Richmond) tossed five scoreless innings Friday night, and the Alexandria Aces overcame a four-hit night by drawing 11 walks and capitalizing on three wild pitches to defeat the South County Metro Braves, 6-3, in front of an announced crowd of 116 at Frank Mann Field.
A brief rain delay pushed back first pitch, but once play began the Aces quickly built a lead they never relinquished.
Fogus (2-2) earned his second victory of the summer, allowing just two hits while walking four and striking out six over five innings. He threw 95 pitches before turning the game over to the bullpen. Ryan Petro (0-1) took the loss for South County.
Fogus arrived in Alexandria after a standout senior season with the Bishop O’Connell Knights in Arlington, where he played for former Alexandria Aces Head Coach Chris Berset. He also developed in Berset’s Alexandria-based PrimeTime Baseball program before joining the Aces this summer. As a senior, Fogus struck out 80 batters while posting a 1.89 ERA over 44.1 innings, according to MaxPreps. He will continue his baseball career with the University of Richmond Spiders.
“Great job by the pitching staff tonight attacking the zone and forcing soft contact,” Aces Head Coach Brian Wirth said. “Nice to see the starting pitching get us deep into the ball game.”
Despite managing only four hits, Alexandria manufactured runs from the outset. Elijah Grant (Presbyterian College) scored on a first-inning wild pitch before delivering a sacrifice fly in the second that drove home Jackson Sgro (Haverford College). William Bercaw (Columbia University) later scored on another wild pitch, and Daniel McGinnis (Eastern Mennonite University) followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0.
Jack Rubin (Fordham University) delivered the game’s biggest hit in the fifth inning, lining a two-run single to center field that scored Matthew Pazak (University of Pennsylvania) and Shraden Lechtenberg (Black Hawk College) for a 6-0 advantage. Rubin finished with two RBIs.
Fogus and reliever Aidan O’Brien-Gonzalez (Fordham University) combined to keep the Braves scoreless through the first seven innings. Metro South County scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth, but stranded 10 runners on base as Alexandria repeatedly escaped trouble. The Aces also turned a double play behind Fogus, with Elijah Grant, Jackson Sgro and Cooper Scott (Dallas College Mountain View) combining on the twin killing.
Aidan O’Brien-Gonzalez worked two scoreless innings before Finn Patrick (Rhodes College) and Braxtyn Vackar (Southeastern University) recorded the final six outs to preserve the victory.
“O’Brien gave us a couple clean innings in relief, defense made the routine plays,” Wirth said. “Offense manufactured a few runs early and a couple of timely hits by Rubin and McGinnis were the difference tonight.”
Wirth believes Fogus’ future is bright.
“Shota has a big future ahead of him at the University of Richmond,” he said.
Up Next
The Aces travel to Olney on Saturday for a 3 p.m. EDT doubleheader against the Olney Cropdusters before returning home Sunday to host the Southern Maryland Senators at 6:30 p.m. EDT at Frank Mann Field.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for children ages 12 and under. Advance tickets are available at alexandriaaces.org/tickets, or fans may purchase tickets at the gate.
Watch the Game
Fans who missed Friday night’s game, or would like to watch it again, can view the complete Alexandria Aces broadcast on YouTube:
