Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford baseball team saw an interesting turn of events during its contest against Prince George's on Tuesday night at Harford Baseball Field. The game, which ended 16-9 in favor of the Owls (8-39, 4-23 MDJUCO), was played under protest after Prince George's batted out of order for a third time in the top of the second inning, though the umpires claimed that the lineup order was correct.
The problems began in the top of the first as the No. 5 batter, Anderson Rodriguez, mistakenly batted in the No. 4 batter's, Lamar Lewis, slot. The folly was not realized, however, until after Lewis batted, out of order once again, in Rodriguez's No. 5 spot. At that time, an official appeal was made and the correct batter (Rodriguez) was declared out as a result to end the inning.
The second inning should have seen the No. 6 batter, Danny Herron, lead off, but instead the No. 7 hitter, Mike Diaz, took the plate, prompting an official protest regarding the umpires' non-adherence to published NCAA rules.
If the protest is declared legal, the game will resume from the point of protest, in this case the top of the second inning, but if it is overruled, the result will stand as a 16-9 drubbing of the Fighting Owls (23-23, 13-17 MDJUCO).
Harford has struggled as of late and with the loss has dropped its last five in a row, the longest losing skid this season, and holds a 3-11 record in the last 14 games.
Freshmen Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) and Jordan Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) paced the Owls in the loss, going 2-for-4 with two walks each. Harbach also crossed the plate three times and batted one run in while stealing two bases, while Wlodarczyk scored one run and batted in two, along with tallying a double.
Anderson Rodriguez led both the Prince George's offense and defense, going 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored, four RBI, a double, a home run and a walk, while pitching the nine-inning complete game win, which saw him allow nine runs (six earned) on 14 hits and strike out seven.
Freshman Mike Rappazzo (5-4) (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) was tabbed with the loss after giving up eight runs, four earned, on six hits and striking out two in 3.1 innings, including allowing five runs in a six-run fourth inning to give PG the lead.
Harford took a 5-3 lead into the fourth after notching one run in the first off an RBI single from freshman Kyle Otstot (Lewisberry, Pa./Redland) and adding four more in the third off a two-run RBI single by Otstot, bases-loaded RBI walk from freshman Simon Beloff (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter/Old Dominion) and an RBI single from freshman Dean Hicks (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood), while PG added one run in each of the three innings.
The Owls would take the lead from Harford for good in the fourth as Jerrell Chance tallied an RBI double, Seth Grosser added a sacrifice fly, Chance scored on a Harford error and Rodriguez blasted a three-run shot to complete a six-run inning and give PG the 9-5 lead.
The teams would battle back-and-forth for the next one-and-a-half innings, each team adding one run in its respective chance at the plate, to make the score 10-7 after five innings.
Prince George's would blow the game wide open over the next three innings, scoring two in the sixth, one in the seventh, and three in the eight while holding the Owls scoreless to increase the lead to nine runs, 16-7.
Harford would see a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single from Harbach and RBI double from Wlodarczyk, which saw Harbach score all the way from first base, before PG got out of the inning with the 16-9 victory.
The Fighting Owls return to competition on Wednesday when they host Salem in their final home game of the season at 7:00 p.m. at Harford Baseball Field.
