Box Score
ESSEX, Md.—Sophomore Mike Krider's (State College, Pa./State College) sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth knotted the score at five, while sophomore Paul Labe's (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) RBI single in the 10th gave the Harford Baseball team a 6-5 extra-inning win over CCBC-Essex on Thursday at Essex.
Sophomore Drew Burton (Kingsville, Md./Calvert Hall) led the Fighting Owls (9-5, 2-3 MDJUCO) on the day, going 3-for-5 with one run, while Krider was 1-for-2 with three RBI, two walks and a sac fly. On the mound, sophomore Jordan Heller (Loch Raven, Md./Loch Raven/Chesapeake) (1-0) earned the win after pitching two scoreless and hitless innings in relief, while striking out four. Freshman Dom Vattuone (Germantown, Md./Northwest) also had a solid day in the hill, going six innings in relief and allowing just one run (unearned) on three hits while fanning six batters.
Matt Wilson led the Knights (2-6, 0-2 MDJUCO), going 2-for-4 on the day with one run, one RBI and one walk, while Joe Markiewicz (0-2) was charged with the loss after giving up one run, one hit and walking two batters in one inning.
Harford started the scoring off in the first thanks to an RBI single from sophomore Woody Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) and a two-RBI single from Krider as the Owls took a 3-0 lead.
Essex equaled Harford's output and added one more with four runs in the second innings off Theo Gross's RBI single, Cale McDaniel's two-run RBI triple and Wilson's RBI single.
Harford would even the score in the fourth with a lead-off solo homer from freshman Alex Riley (Newark, Del./A.I. Dupont/Wesley), but the Knights would capitalize on a Harford error in the bottom of the inning to take the lead back, 5-4.
The two teams would combine for just four hits over the next four innings, but the ninth saw the first three Harford batters reach on base hits, setting up Krider to tally the sac fly and even the score at five runs each.
Heller struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and two leadoff walks by Markiewicz in the 10th set Harford up to take the lead. The run did not come easy, however, as Labe's botched squeeze attempt, with one out on the board, got Riley caught at home. Labe would take a ball for a 1-1 count and then put the ball just over the shortstop's head to bring sophomore Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) in for the score. Heller cemented the 6-5 win by retiring the Essex lineup in order.
The Fighting Owls return to action this weekend when they host Roxbury and Jefferson for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday at Harford Baseball Field.
