Jefferson's bats remained hot and Robinson's young pitcher remained calm. Which is why both teams finished first in their districts with wins on Friday.

The Colonials beat Centreville 11-2 on Friday as they finished first during the regular season for the first time in school history. South Lakes finished second behind Jefferson in the Concorde District.

In the Patriot District, Robinson used a four-run seventh to beat Hayfield 9-5 and finish first in the Patriot District.

For Jefferson, Friday's hitting was more of the same. Over the past three games, every Jefferson starter is batting over .300 and seven are hitting over .400. One player, Justin Cohen, is hitting .857 over that period - he drove in two runs with two hits Friday.

``He's hit the ball on the nose and he has all year,'' Jefferson coach Jim Jullien said. ``They're just now falling in.''

Meanwhile, Robinson received a strong pitching performance from sophomore Jake Bruton. In his last two starts, against West Springfield and Lake Braddock, Bruton struggled. But, in six innings Friday, he allowed only two earned runs.

Jefferson's Mike Keenan (eye) is expected to play in Friday's semifinals. Keenan missed the past two weeks with an eye injury...Rams outfielder Nathan Heggestad is nursing a bad knee that likely will keep him out of Thursday's district semifinals. But Evers said he hopes Heggestad will return for the next game after that, whether it's the district finals or the first round of the region tournament.

Small reward

Westfield defeated the defending state champion and the third-place district finisher and nearly knocked off the second-place team. Chantilly beat the top two seeds and the fifth seed. Their reward: a date against one another in the Concorde District play-in game.

The winner must still win another game to clinch a spot in the Northern Region tournament. The winner plays Centreville in a district quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Jefferson and South Lakes, which finished first and second, respectively, earned first-round byes and an automatic bid into the region tournament.

``In our district, it doesn't matter where anyone finished,'' Chantilly coach Chris Haddock said. ''Every game is a tough game.''

The teams split during the regular season, with Westfield (4-15), the first-year school in Chantilly, winning the most recent game 13-4.

Westfield also has beaten Oakton (17-13) and Centreville (10-0) and led South Lakes by two entering the seventh only to lose.

The Bulldogs split their last eight games.

``They all of a sudden started playing together,'' Westfield coach Chuck Welch said. ``And they're getting hits with two outs.''

Chris McGough, Monty Wells and Ryan Cunningham all are batting in the upper-.300s.

This game also is a neighborhood rivalry, as several players switched from Chantilly to Westfield this school year.

``This is the play-in game of the region,'' Haddock said. ``It's not like this is the lowly of the low. They're playing well. This is just the beginning chapter of what will be a big rivalry. They're playing their best ball and we are too.''

The Concorde never had a play-in game before. Certainly, Chantilly (9-10) would not have been in one the past two years. The Chargers reached the region semifinals both seasons, winning a combined 40 games.

Chantilly is led by Travis Irby (.350 batting average) and Jim Martin (.320, two home runs). Martin hit a three-run shot in a 6-4 win over South Lakes 10 days ago.

Wolverines drop to sixth

West Potomac started Friday with a chance to finish third in the Patriot District. But one run bumped the Wolverines to sixth as West Springfield beat them 9-8.

And that run dropped West Potomac into the district's play-in game. The Wolverines host T.C. Williams at 7 tonight. The Titans went winless in the Patriot, but this game is not a guaranteed win for West Potomac. In their two meetings, the Wolverines won 5-3 and 8-6.

The winner plays West Springfield at 8 p.m. Wednesday. If the Wolverines get a rematch, expect a close game: West Potomac won the first meeting 4-3. Friday, the Wolverines rallied from a 7-3 deficit, after blowing a 3-0 lead.

West Springfield scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a walk.

The Wolverines, who finished 5-7 in the district, have not yet faced Spartans' ace Jake Glanzmann. West Potomac has been helped by speedy outfielder Bubba Sixsmith, who divided his time between baseball and a traveling hockey team earlier in the season. But hockey is over, allowing him to concentrate on baseball.

In the Liberty District, seventh-place W.T. Woodson plays at sixth-place Marshall at 6 tonight. The winner plays at third-seeded Lee in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Washington-Lee clinched first place in the National District, and earned the automatic berth into the region tournament, on Friday. The Generals 12-2 win over Edison, coupled with Wakefield's upset over second-place Mount Vernon, gave them the title.

Falls Church and Yorktown are fighting for third. The Patriots play Washington-Lee and the Jaguars play the Majors tonight.

The tournament begins Thursday at the site of the higher seed. The semifinals are Saturday and the championship is May 22, a day after the other three districts play their finals.

The National does not have a play-in game - only the No. 1 seed earns a first-round bye and automatic bid to the region tourney.

Morgenthaler boosts Atoms

Scott Morgenthaler delivered a big win for Annandale and a district title to Robinson. All in one night.

Morgenthaler's one-hitter helped Annandale beat Lake Braddock, 4-0 - outdueling Bruins ace Jeff Lange. The Bruins entered the night tied with Robinson for first place in the district. But the Rams won, thanks to their 9-5 win over Hayfield.

Justin Klunk added a two-run single for Annandale. Lange was the only player to get a hit for Lake Braddock.

Morgenthaler's second shutout of the week helped the Atoms finish 6-6 and in fourth place in the Patriot. On Monday, Morgenthaler beat hot-hitting West Potomac 2-0.

He hasn't allowed a run in his last 17 innings, making Annandale a threat to beat anyone in the region when he pitches.

``He's really focused now and his arm is getting in shape,'' Annandale coach Matt Caudle said. ``His arm was not in shape at the beginning of the year, but it's come alive in the last 10 days.''

Morgenthaler finished the regular season 9-3, setting a school record for wins, with a 2.24 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings. He walked only 15 batters. He has committed to Liberty.

Annandale plays fifth-seeded Hayfield at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the district tournament. All the games are at Hayfield.

Centreville wins, despite loss

Every so often, Centreville's Blake Warren will bug his dad, who also happens to be his coach, and beg to take just one at-bat. But common sense always prevails, leaving Warren on the bench and the Wildcats to wonder: what-if?

After all, they nearly won the regular season title without Warren, a second-team All-Region player as a junior who has missed all season with a back injury. An 11-2 loss to Jefferson cost Centreville the championship.

Still, it hasn't been a disappointing season for the Wildcats, who are 11-8 and the Concorde's third-seed (they lost a tiebreaker to South Lakes for second).

``The kids have really stuck together,'' Centreville coach Donnie Warren said. ``They came closer together knowing Blake couldn't play. We found out early he couldn't play so my whole thing was that someone has to step up and fill some shoes and a lot of people did.''

Sean O'Neill, batting in Warren's old third spot, is hitting .443. Chris Stanton is hitting .339 and Will Montgomery flirted with .400 before dropping to .379 after Friday. He's also won two games on the mound.

Sophomore Chris Mellies won five games, establishing himself as the Wildcats' No. 1 pitcher. He beat Jefferson earlier this season, though the Colonials knocked him from the game in the third inning Friday.

Another sophomore Eric Fox also helped on the mound, though he missed three weeks with a broken wrist.

Who knows what Warren's presence would have done for this lineup. Last season he batted .446 with five homers. Though he'll play football at Virginia Tech, the baseball coaches have told him they'd welcome him if he ever wanted to play.

``It's very disappointing [to have him out],'' Donnie Warren said. ``But it's harder on him than it is on me. You should see him in the dugout. He's come up to us seven or eight times and said, `Just let me take one swing.' It's killing him because he's been such a good player for so long.

``You take a guy like that out and that's one big hitter out of the lineup. I can't tell you how many times we've left a lot of people stranded on the basepaths. It's frustrating.''

Notes

Top-seeded O'Connell hosts Carroll today in the first round of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. The Knights swept two games from last-place Carroll this season.

Tomorrow, sixth-seeded Paul VI plays third-seeded Gonzaga at 4 p.m. at Catholic University and fifth-seeded Ireton plays at fourth-seeded DeMatha at 4 p.m.

Gonzaga swept Paul VI during the regular season. But the Panthers allowed six unearned runs in an 8-6 defeat and, in the second meeting, lost 5-3 after entering the seventh tied at 3.

Potomac School already has set a school-record for wins with two games remaining. The second-place Panthers are 13-4 and 8-2 in the Mid Atlantic Conference, trailing first-place Maret by two games.

They end the regular season with a game against Maret on Thursday. First, though, they play Sidwell Friends, which is tied with them for second, on Tuesday.

The MAC does not have a postseason tournament, but Potomac School is a strong contender to play in the Virginia Independent School state tournament, which begins next week. Eight teams are chosen, based on rankings.

O'Connell, Ireton, Paul VI and Potomac School all are among the top eight in the VIS rankings entering this week.

The Panthers are led by Alex Mikszewski, who is hitting .380 with 17 RBI and is 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA on the mound. John Ohly is hitting a team-best .440 with 11 doubles. Josh Gregg is hitting .340 with a team-high 18 RBI.

Jason Nadeau is 6-0 with a 3.39 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 33 innings.