Patapsco Loses in
3A State Title Game Patriots
committ six errors in 8-2 loss - Article by
Ben Boehl -
For a
second
straight season, a local high school advanced to the baseball state
title game and got to play for the state championship. Last year,
Eastern Tech and their fans made a trip up to Aberdeen and watched
their team win the 2A State Title with a 3-2 at Ripken Stadium.
Patriot
pitcher Ronny Bolyard allowed only one earned run, but his defense
committed four errors.
This
year it was Patapsco’s turn as the team made the trip up to Aberdeen to
play for the 3A MPSSAA State Title last Saturday night. Unfortunately
for the Patriots and their fans, the team came up short in an 8-2 loss
to La Plata High School, out of Charles County in Southern Maryland.
The Patriots defense struggled all night long as they committed six
errors in the loss. Patapsco starting pitcher Ronny Bolyard pitched
four innings, allowed only one earned run and three hits, but was
credited for four runs.
La Plata scored the first run in the second inning after a walk and
then a double. The Patapsco defense had a chance to escape only
allowing one run, but couldn’t record the final out. With two outs, a
La Plata batter hit a pop up behind the plate, but a Patapsco player
misplayed the ball. That batter got another chance and reached base
after a throwing error by a Patriot infielder, which allowed the second
run to score.
In the fourth inning, Bolyard’s defense let him down again after a La
Plata batter reached base after another throwing error by an infielder.
Then La Plata’s Seth Donnelly hit an out-of-the-park homerun to extend
the lead to 4-0.
La Plata had a 5-2 led going into the seventh and added three more
runs, which came from two more Patriot throwing errors.
On offense, Patapsco had struggled all evening against La Plata pitcher
Michael Boyden. He had 14 strikeouts and the Patriots didn’t get a hit
off Boyden until Vinny Tiburzi’s base hit in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, the Patriots had runners on first and second after
a Jordan Goocharan hit and Eric Ryan walk, but couldn’t score. They
finally got runners home in the bottom of the sixth when Rob Rychwalski
scored after another Tiburzi’s hit and Rob Wilson’s hit drove home
Andrew Huber to cut the La Plata led to 5-2, but Boyden struck out the
next two Patriots to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh Ryan
and Paul Goins reached base with one out, but again Boyden struck out
the final two Patapsco batters to end the inning and this time the game.
Patapsco
Advances to Finals, Sparrows Point defeated in Semifinals
The
Patriots are one
win away from their first state championship as they defeat Centennial
8-6 on Tuesday. They will play this Saturday night at 7 p.m. against La
Plata in the MPSSAA 3A Title Game at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen.
Sparrows Point season ended in Frederick on Wednesday night in the 1A
State Semifinals. The Pointers lost to Saint Michaels 9-2.
Patapsco
Comes Back From 7-0 Deficit to Win 2A Regional Title -
by
Ben Boehl-
The Patriots celebrate as they win
the 2A North Title.
The Patapsco Patriots
baseball team
earned their 3A North Regional Title by coming back from a 7-0 deficit
to defeat Catonsville 9-8 in 11 innings.
The Patriots had won 13 in a row, including the playoffs, going into
their 3A North Regional Final Game against Catonsville. It looked as if
the Patriots’ dream season was coming to end as Catonsville jumped out
to a 7-0 lead in the second inning. Catonsville sent 11 batters to the
plate and put up five runs, three walks and seven runs against
Patriot starting pitcher Ronny Bolyard. Patapsco coach Tony Maggard
said he got to see his team face adversity with a seven run deficit.
“I told them to relax. We hadn't faced that type gut check all year
long. When someone gives you a gut check, you have to be able to react.
You have to be able to take one on the chin,” Maggard said.
Patapsco slowly got back into the game. They started their comeback in
the bottom of the second inning with three runs. Rob Wilson led off
with a hit, Bolyard walked and Jordan “Gooch” Goocharan drove in Wilson
with a hit. Bolyard and Goocharan both scored on a Brent Ellick base
hit.
The Patriots added two more in the third after Wilson hit a triple and
scored on a Bolyard double. Goocharan added another RBI when he doubled
to drive in pitch runner Manny Prassinas.
Catonsville added another run to grab an 8-5 lead, but Wilson started
another rally with a walk and scored his third run of the game after a
Jon Richardson hit. Richardson and Goocharan scored two more runs to
cut the lead to 8-7 after five innings.
After a tough second inning, Bolyard calmed down and allow one run for
the rest of the game. He had five strikeouts, including a key strikeout
in the top of the sixth as Catonsville had the bases loaded. Maggard
decided to stay with his senior pitcher even though he struggled early
in the game.
“After the second inning, he got his pitches down. He was able to hit
his spots and the location was there.”
That kept it a one-run game and the Patriots finally caught
Catonsville in the seventh. Goocharan had a base hit, stole
second and scored on a two-out base hit from Paul Goins. The
combination of Goocharan and Goins worked again for Patapsco in
the bottom of the 11th as Goocharan led off with a triple and Goins
brought him home by hitting a soft ground ball to third for the win.
“This team has a lot of confidence and has shown a lot of heart all
season,” Goins said.
The Patriots were scheduled to play Centennial next.
Other scores
Sparrows Point 18 Digital Harbor 5
Even though the Pointers had a losing record, they silenced many
critics (including this one) by going on the road and beating the
Baltimore City Champions Digital Harbor to win the 1A North
Region. They were scheduled to play St. Micheals next.
Loch
Raven 7 Eastern Tech 3
The Mavericks bid for a second straight title came to an end when they
lost at home to the third seed Loch Raven 7-3 last week in the 3A North
Regional Semifinals
CM
Wright 6 Kenwood 2
The Bluebirds faced a similar exit in their 4A North Region where they
lost at home as a second seed to the third seed CM Wright 6-2
