Box Score
DUNDALK, Md.—The No. 5 Harford baseball team committed four errors and gave up six unearned runs as it fell to No. 8 CCBC-Catonsville, 6-3, on Saturday in the NJCAA Region XX Play-In game. With the loss, the Fighting Owls (24-24) were eliminated from the regional playoffs and saw their season come to an end, while the Cardinals (22-23) advanced to a second play-in game versus No. 3 host CCBC-Dundalk.
The Owl pitching staff of freshmen Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) and Mike Rappazzo (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) was brilliant on the day, giving up no earned runs and just eight total hits, five against Harbach (3-3), who was also tabbed with the loss, and three against Rappazzo. Unfortunately for the Owls, the Cardinals' pitching was just as impressive with Nick Cicio (8-1) earning the complete-game win while allowing three runs on five hits and fanning seven batters.
Freshman Willie Barnola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/UEC J.G. Bastidas) was the only Harford player to reach base twice, going 1-for-3 with one run scored, a double, and a hit by pitch. Daniel Burroughs paced Catonsville, going 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI, a walk and a stolen base.
The Cardinals opened up a 6-0 lead over Harford with two runs in the second and four in the fifth thanks to two Owl errors in each inning before Harford would get on the board in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI double by freshman Simon Beloff (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter/Old Dominion).
The Owls would add another in the sixth after a one-out double from Barnola, a groundout from Harbach which advanced the runner to third and a wild pitch which allowed Barnola to score to cut the lead to four, 6-2.
Harford would tally its final run in the eighth on a one-out sacrifice fly by Harbach with the bases loaded before Cicio retired the lineup in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the 6-3 win for the Cardinals and put an end to the 2009 season for Harford.
