PURCELLVILLE – Mike Morris huddled with players following Atlee’s  2-1 loss to Woodgrove in the Class 4 state championship game Saturday, and they talked about the journey. 

The script, the coach said, doesn’t always go according to the plan. 

Atlee’s postseason was filled with twists and turns, rewrites and edits. It provided thrills and nail-biting moments, and the Raiders often teetered on the brink. 

Two years after Atlee made history by winning its first state baseball championship, there was no denying the hurt in that huddle. They had survived the playoff gauntlet by “just push(ing) the sun up in the sky for another day of baseball,” Morris said. 

Now it was early afternoon in Purcellville, and the sun was setting. 

“The lessons are in the losing,” Morris told his team. “But the memories will be ours forever and the relationships will be ours forever. Just like in life, it doesn’t always go as you scripted it or wanted.”

What Atlee wanted, of course, was its second title in two years, which would send its group of seniors off in style. But in a razor-tight game, the slightest of mistakes can make the difference. Woodgrove pounced on two of those mistakes to grab the state title. 

With the score tied at 1 in the top of  the sixth and runners on first and second, Woodgrove’s Colton Dabkowski grounded to second. Atlee tried to turn a double play to get out of the inning. Second baseman Cooper Molloy flipped to shortstop Max Baedke for the out, but Baedke’s throw sailed high over first baseman Tyler Rutman’s head. 

Woodgrove’s Brady Miller sprinted around from second and scored on the play for the 2-1 lead after singling in Woodgrove’s first run earlier in the inning. 

Woodgrove reliever Bryan Miller walked Atlee catcher Ryan Costanzo to start the bottom of the seventh, putting the tying run aboard. Morris inserted courtesy runner Dylan Mohr, a sophomore, at first. 

Woodgrove had started the frame with its own substitutions. Miller had moved from behind home plate to pitch, and junior Josiah Cameron had taken his place at catcher. 

Cameron spied Mohr straying too far off the bag between pitches. He fired to first and cut down Mohr diving back to the bag. 

The threat was over. Two straight fly outs gave Loudoun County-based Woodgrove (20-5), which opened in 2010, its first baseball state championship. 

Morris consoled Mohr after the game. 

“I wasn’t gonna let that kid beat himself up over getting picked off, because there could have been 10 other occasions in the game, other things happened that could have been the difference in winning or losing,” Morris said. 

Runs were at a premium Saturday. After 4 1/2 scoreless innings, the Raiders pushed one across in the bottom of the fifth when Molloy singled on a liner to right, sending teammate Barrett Bucholz to third. 

Bucholz had singled with two outs the previous at-bat. He looked on from third as Molloy sprinted toward second, eyeing a double. But the throw from right was on the money and Molloy threw on the brakes about eight feet from the bag. He turned back to first, caught in a rundown. But Woodgrove bobbled the exchange and Bucholz sprinted home for the 1-0 lead. 

It was the second influential play Bucholz had been involved in in the last two days. During Friday’s dramatic 3-2 semifinal win over Jefferson Forest, he beat out a bunt in the bottom of the seventh and was on base when Baedke singled for the walk-off victory. 

So when he scored Saturday, it felt like Atlee was once again doing what Morris said: pushing the sun up into the sky for a little more baseball, one more time. 

“After we got through some of the emotions, I said, ‘Guys, I need you to promise me that you will leave this field with no regrets,” Morris said. “Because what you accomplished over the last four years in our high school and what you have done for this program, all of those things are huge.”

Molloy and Bucholz led Atlee with two hits apiece. Starting pitcher Thomas Layne threw five innings and allowed three hits, walked one and struck out three before giving way to William Motley, who threw 1/3 of an inning and was charged with the loss and both Woodgrove runs. 

Each team finished with five hits. 

Woodgrove freshman Brady Miller earned the win. He threw six innings, yielded one run (earned), walked four and fanned five. Bryan Miller earned the save. 

Morris’ journey with this year’s seniors began long before they were freshmen trying to break into the varsity ranks. He coached a number of them in travel baseball leagues when they were 11 years old, he said. 

“Your story is not ending today,” he told the seniors after the game. “This chapter of your story is closing, but your story is such a great opportunity that will continue on, and you’ll start your next chapter. And that’s yet to be written.”