Randolph-Henry High School’s (R-H) varsity baseball team went 1-1 in the Region 2A tournament this year, finishing its 2019 campaign by being competitive among the region’s final four teams, which led to the Statesmen netting three all-region representatives.

Statesmen senior Skylar Lacks made the first team as a pitcher and the second team at shortstop, while R-H junior pitcher Colby Jordan also made the second team.

“When moving from all-district to all-region honors there are three more teams that you have to consider,” Randolph-Henry Head Coach Joshua Barmoy said. “So now we have to be better than 11 other players versus eight in the James River District. There are a lot of good players in our region, and we are honored to have three different representatives.”

This was Lacks’ first time receiving all-region recognition in baseball.

“I know Skylar is deserving of this honor and pitched well for us all season,” Barmoy said. “Skylar pitched in both regional games for us. In the first game Skylar threw a one-hitter versus Bruton. Skylar did a great job shutting Bruton’s running game down. He changed up his timing to the plate when runners got on base and didn’t allow Bruton to get a free 90 feet. After a tough first inning, Skylar locked in and did not allow another run to cross home plate.”

The coach noted that Lacks threw 43 innings this season, producing an outstanding 0.814 ERA. He threw 60 strikeouts in 10 games pitched throughout the entire year.

As for Lacks’ second-team accolade honoring his time at shortstop, Barmoy said, “I thought Skylar had a good chance to make first team at shortstop, but Kolby Anderson from King William, who also was the Player of the Region just had a better season than Skylar. This definitely does not take away from all that Skylar has accomplished at the shortstop position.

“Skylar played shortstop whenever he was not pitching and had 29 assists and 39 putouts throughout our season,” Barmoy continued. “In 72 total chances, Skylar only made four errors during the entire season. At the dish, Skylar batted .409 with an on-base percentage of .481. Skylar had 27 hits throughout the season and only struck out four times.”

The coach noted that Lacks will be participating in the Virginia High School Coaches Association All-Star Game on Monday at James Madison University.

The all-region second team honor for Jordan was his first-ever regional accolade in baseball.
“Colby had a great junior year on the mound for us,” Barmoy said. “He was a guy that we could count on every game to throw strikes and give us a chance to win. Colby wants the ball and is not afraid of a challenge. Colby knows how to pitch situationally, and when he locates his pitches, he is tough to hit.

“Colby threw 48.2 innings — the most innings on the team — this year with a 1.438 ERA,” the coach continued. “Colby pitched in 12 games — six of them he started — and had 66 strikeouts on the season. We are looking forward to Colby’s return next year and know that with some work he can be even better.”