CCBC-Essex Box Score
CCBC-Dundalk Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford baseball team outscored CCBC-Essex, 6-1, on Wednesday but would come out of the day with an 11-6 loss due to the continuation of a game started on March 26. The Fighting Owls (23-18, 13-12 MDJUCO) would bounce back on Thursday as they earned a 6-3 road win over CCBC-Dundalk in their third straight day of playing.
The game on March 26 saw the Knights (16-19, 10-12 MDJUCO) take a 10-0 lead in the first inning off freshman starter Mike Rappazzo (4-3) (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) on a wet, windy Thursday night at Harford Baseball Field.
The game was called with one out and one man on for Essex in the top of the second inning, but wouldn't be played until almost a month later due to more postponements and scheduling conflicts.
Freshman Kyle Otstot (Lewisberry, Pa./Redland) would take the mound on Wednesday for Harford and pitch a gem, giving up just one unearned run on two hits and fanning six batters in 7.2 innings of work, but Rappazzo would ultimately be tabbed with the game's loss as the Owls fell short, 11-6. Rappazzo allowed 10 runs (six earned) on six hits and walked three batters during the first inning of the suspended game.
Otstot would shut down the Essex bats in the second and third innings and Mike Sokolis would do the same, picking up right where he left off on March 26, but the Owls would begin to battle back in the fourth, started by an RBI single from sophomore Ron Trout (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale) to put Harford on the board.
Freshman Willie Barnola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/UEC J.G. Bastidas) would put up two more in the fifth with a two-run shot and Harford would add single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth thanks to another home run, this time from freshman Jordan Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright), an RBI single from Barnola and a sacrifice fly from freshman Brendon Meyers (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) to cut the lead to four, 10-6, going into the ninth.
The Knights would add their only run of the day in the ninth off a Harford error and the Owls would manage to put just one man on in the bottom of the inning as Essex earned the 11-6 win.
Barnola led Harford for the game, going 3-for-5 with one run scored, three RBI and a home run, while Charlie Ziolkoski was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Sokolis gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and struck out six on the way to the nine-inning, complete-game win.
Thursday saw Rappazzo (5-3) take the mound at Dundalk and pick up the 6-3 win after giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits and striking out three in eight innings before Meyers entered in the ninth and pitched a scoreless, hitless inning, while fanning one batter in relief to earn his fifth save of the season.
Freshman Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) led Harford on the day, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double, while Sean Burke was 3-for-5 with a run scored for Dundalk. Chris Moore (1-5) was tabbed with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings pitched.
The Lions (22-16, 12-10 MDJUCO) took the early lead with a groundout RBI from Hodges in the first, but Harford would answer with two in the top of the second off RBI singles from freshman Kyle Rooker (Coco Beach, Fla./Space Coast) and Trout to take a 2-1 lead.
Dundalk would knot the score in the bottom of the inning, but wouldn't score again until the sixth, while the Owls would tack on two more in the third with a two-run RBI single from freshman Simon Beloff (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter/Old Dominion) to build a 4-2 advantage.
The Lions would add their final run in the sixth to make a it one-run game, 4-3, but two runs in the ninth off an RBI double from Harbach and RBI single from Wlodarczyk would give the Owls a 6-3 lead to set up Meyers for the ninth-inning save and the win for Rappazzo.
The Fighting Owls would continue a brutal, five-day, seven-game playing span with doubleheaders at Garrett on Friday and at home against Chesapeake on Sunday.
