It was nearly a case of deja vu — a nightmare relived for Warrenton Post 122 coach Rob Duren.

For the second time in less than a week, he witnessed his team let Washington slip away victorious. On Sunday, Post 122 found itself on the losing end of a 6-4 contest that reached extra innings.

Just like in Wednesday’s matchup at Washington, Duren’s was in promising position for a win. Again, Warrenton was unable to finish the deal.

“This one and last Wednesday when we lost to them are those that I’ll think about for a while, because it’s aggravating,” said Duren. 

Post 122 scored the tying run in the bottom of the seventh, forcing extra innings. Warrenton ace Chad Berrey had pitched a full game and Duren says he was still holding his ground in the final inning.

But Berrey’s defensive support waivered, as Washington scored the winning runs on a dropped fly ball.

“Chad worked his butt off in that eighth inning to get out of it,” said Duren. “He had it. They didn’t communicate, took their eye off the ball or whatever. We just handed it to them.”

Warrenton scored a run in the bottom of the first, after Eric Smurl reached home following an overthrow in the infield. Post 122 left Greg Hobusch and Chris Hertel stranded on base that inning.

“We made some base running mistakes,” said Duren. “We should have been tied before then. We made some mistakes running the bases.”

Berrey faced just seven batters over the next two innings, but Warrenton wasn’t much more effective on offense than its counterpart.

Washington grabbed control in the fourth inning, scoring three runs with two outs. Post 218 used a hit and walk to advance into scoring position. The first run came home on an error, while the other was the product of deep hitting. Sam Deschenes cranked a two-run triple into left centerfield to push Washington ahead 4-1.

Post 122 scored again in the bottom of the fifth, as Hobusch drove in Berrey. The run came with two outs, which disabled Warrenton from engineering any type of rally.

“We need to string those hits all together,” said Duren. “A lot of those came with two outs. We need to get those with no outs  and put pressure on them.”

Warrenton continued to chip away at Washington’s advantage in the sixth inning. The first two batters walked, and Jason Bunge reached by single. Cody Cox followed with a single to bring home Mike Abrolat, but Washington ended the inning before any other damage could be done.

Post 122 completed its comeback in the seventh with two outs. After walking the first batter, Washington pitcher Dustin Howard was replaced by Trent Leimkuhler. He struck out the first batter he faced, but Abrolat and Nick Shough each singled. Abrolat scored on a wild pitch to Jason Bunge, notching the game at 4-4.

Duren says Berrey indicated he was capable of pitching into extra innings.

“We made sure he was always handed a water bottle when he came off the field and kept him hydrated,” said Duren. “You could see his velocity was dropping off, but he did a great job.”

Washington managed to load the bases with two outs. Jack Haddox planted what Duren says should have been a routine fly out to centerfield. Instead, three Post 122 fielders scrambled for the ball, only to see it drop and allow the winning runners to advance.

Berrey gave up seven hits, while striking out five batters and walking four.

“He pitched a heck of a game,” said Duren. “He was up over a hundred pitches. When he came off the field, he says, ‘I’m good for another one.’ ”