Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford baseball team closed out its home season on Wednesday as it downed visiting Salem, 14-9, on sophomore night at Harford Baseball Field. The Fighting Owls (24-23) will continue with postseason play as the No. 5 seed in the NJCAA Region XX Play-In Round on Saturday as they face No. 8 CCBC-Catonsville at No. 3 CCBC-Dundalk at 11:00 a.m.
The winner of the morning game will go on to play No. 3 Dundalk later in the day and that winner will advance to the four-team Region XX Tournament the following weekend at CCBC-Catonsville.
The game was a close one to start, with both teams battling back and forth until an eventual 6-6 tie after four innings of play. Harford would add three in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-6 lead, but the Oaks (11-33) would keep the game within range by adding two in the top of the sixth.
It wasn't until Harford exploded with five runs on four hits and one Salem error in the seventh that the Owls put the game out of reach, with Salem adding just one more run in the top of the ninth.
Freshmen Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) and Mike Maxwell (Salem, N.J./Woodstown) led Harford on the night, going 4-for-5 with Harbach adding one run scored, three RBI and a double, and Maxwell scoring three runs and batting in another.
Freshman Dean Hicks (1-0) (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) picked up his first win of the season after pitching two innings in relief while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out two.
Mike Paolilli led Salem, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, one RBI and a walk, while Chris Fullam (3-6) was tabbed with the loss after giving up eight runs (two earned) on eight hits and fanning three batters in four innings of relief.
The Oaks struck first with three runs in the first off RBI singles by Mark Crescenszi, Joel Bacon and a Harford error, but the Owls would tally four runs of their own in the second off an RBI single from freshman Drew Burton (Kingsville, Md./Calvert Hall), a catcher's interference call with the bases loaded, an RBI single by Harbach and a sacrifice fly from freshman Jordan Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright).
Salem would take back the lead with two runs in the third, but Harford equaled the output in the bottom of the inning to maintain a one-run lead, 6-5, after a two-run RBI single from freshman Kyle Rooker (Coco Beach, Fla./Space Coast).
A lead-off homer from Jason Kelmer in the fourth knotted the score at six before Harford saw sophomore Ron Trout (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale), freshman Willie Barnola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/UEC J.G. Bastidas) and Harbach combine for three runs on a sac fly, RBI single and RBI double to take a 9-6 lead.
Mike McNulty and Bacon would keep Salem alive with an RBI single and RBI fielder's choice in the sixth to make it a one-run game, 9-8, but Harford would end the back-and-forth affair with a five-run seventh inning.
Trout and Rooker would start the inning off by reaching on a single and walk, respectively, before Barnola advanced them into scoring position with a sac bunt. Harbach's infield single would score Trout and a double steal by Harbach and Rooker would put runners on second and third before an Oak error during freshman Mike Krider's (State College, Pa./State College) batted ball allowed two runs to score.
Sophomore Chazz Losito (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove/Wilmington) and Maxwell would each add RBI singles to complete the five-run inning and give Harford a 14-8 advantage before the Oaks added their final run in the ninth on the way to the 14-9 Harford victory.
The Fighting Owls return to action on Saturday when they face No. 8 CCBC-Catonsville for a 11:00 a.m. Region XX Play-In game at CCBC-Dundalk.
