Cumberland County High School’s varsity baseball team has been much improved this season, but the Dukes’ victory in the Region 1B tournament first round Tuesday was one for the program’s history books.

Alfonso Bell, Cumberland’s athletic director, noted that the Virginia High School League’s new alignment allows more teams to have opportunities to make regional play. The No. 3-seeded Dukes earned one of those opportunities this year, and Bell highlighted that their 5-0 home victory over No. 6 Rappahannock County High School on Tuesday was the first-ever regional win recorded by a Cumberland varsity baseball team.

Additionally, the victory pushed the Dukes’ overall 2019 win-loss record to 11-9, guaranteeing that this will be a winning season for them.

“It’s been over 20 years since we’ve had a winning season in baseball,” Bell said. “Buddy Martin and myself were the coaches then.”

Cumberland’s current head coach, Carter White, reacted to the milestones achieved by his squad this year.

“It’s pretty remarkable what we have been able to accomplish once you start putting it in a historical perspective here at Cumberland, and it’s certainly been a fun season, but I had a feeling that we were going to have this kind of success before the season even began,” he said. “It’s been a few years since we have really had a (junior varsity) program, and (this) has forced some young guys to play at the varsity level before they were really able to compete. This year we have been able to field a team comprised of mostly juniors and seniors, and it has shown in our results.”

Tuesday’s win advanced the Dukes to a 6 p.m. Thursday regional semifinal game at No. 2 William Campbell High School. With a victory in that game, Cumberland would play for the regional title 6 p.m. Friday against either No. 1 Riverheads High School or No. 5 Stonewall Jackson High School, of Quicksburg.

In a Wednesday interview, White said he was very pleased with the way his team played against Rappahannock on Tuesday.

“We made a few mistakes in the outfield, but we were able to squirm out of some difficult spots, like when the Panthers had runners on second and third with no outs,” he said. “Jordan Smith really battled out there all day on the mound, and we were able to take advantage of mistakes caused by aggressive base running.”

He noted that Smith, a junior, pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits and one walk while throwing 10 strikeouts.

“He really showed up for us yesterday, and it was probably his best outing all season,” White said. “He was able to hit his spots all game, and he bailed us out of some tricky spots early in the game.”

The coach pointed out that it was a tight game for the first five innings.

“(Brett) Midkiff for the Panthers was really bringing it on the mound early; the combination of his delivery and the velocity he was bringing made it tough for our batters,” White said. “But we knew the key to the game was to limit their offense and then come in and grind out at-bats and try to get base runners on any way we could to force their pitcher to labor through the early innings.”

White shared that after the first two or three innings, he had a feeling that one or two runs would probably win the game for either team.

“We were finally able to break through in the fifth with an infield single and drawing a few walks to get on the board,” he said. “Then Tristan Stinson came up and did what he’s done all season, which is come up with the big hit — this time with the bases loaded there in the bottom of the fifth to break it open at 4-0. We were able to bring one more around in the sixth, and Jordan was able to finish out the game without much difficulty from there.”

Other standouts for the Dukes included junior Jason Cooke, who went 4-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored.

“Cooke has been seemingly getting on base every at-bat for us lately, and he was able to give us some really great at-bats early and got on base every appearance to put some pressure on the opposing pitcher,” White said.

The coach also highlighted senior catcher Cole Fillman, who went 0-for-1 but drew two walks, accounting for the game-winning RBI by drawing a bases-loaded walk. He also threw out one base runner to end the first inning.

“Cole has just been awesome behind the plate all year, defensively, and this was another great game by him, both calling pitches and keeping base runners from advancing,” White said. “When he’s batting I always know that he’s going to make the opposing pitcher work, and he did just that …”

White commented briefly on what awaited his team in the semifinals.

“From what I’ve heard about William Campbell is they are tough at the plate, and they don’t strike out very much,” he said Wednesday. “They make you make the plays on defense, and then they have a couple of big arms out there on the mound. I’ve been telling the team all season that we are going to see everyone’s best come playoff time and that we will have to play fundamentally sound on defense and grind out at-bats and capitalize on mistakes in order to win. And I think that’s what it is going to take tomorrow for us to come away with the victory over the Generals.”

Reflecting further on the Dukes’ landmark achievements this year, White said, “I’m really just happy for the boys, because they have experienced the lows of the last few years and have put in the work over the last couple of seasons and in the offseason to improve. For this group of seniors to be able to go out with this kind of season is the thing I’m most proud of. They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them, and they’ve set the tone for our program moving forward, and it’s the kind of season I hope we are able to replicate more often.”

Cumberland’s five seniors include Fillman, Stinson, Braden Gilman, Garrett Jensen and Caleb Johnson.