Box Score
NORTH EAST, Md.—Head coach Tom Eller made history last Friday when he won his first-ever game over Cecil at the helm of the Harford baseball team. Before Friday, Eller was 0-6 against Cecil during his previous three years as the coach of Harford. The Fighting Owls (22-5, 9-3 MDJUCO) 4-0 shutout win over the Seahawks (12-6, 8-4 MDJUCO) was even that much sweet for Eller, who played at Cecil before transferring to Wilmington University.
Freshman Dom Vattuone (Germantown, Md./Northwest) and sophomore Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) combined for the shutout win on the mound with Vattuone (2-0) picking up the win after pitching six scoreless innings which saw him give up six hits and strike out five, while Harbach notched his second save of the year with three scoreless innings which saw him give up just one hit and strike out two batters.
Harbach also tallied one of the Owl's two extra-base hits, an RBI double, while freshman Eric Quinn (Pylesville, Md./Harford Christian) had the other double and was the only Harford player to have a multiple-hit game, going 2-for-4 on the day with a run and a double.
Paul Eyster suffered the loss for Cecil, allowing four runs on eight hits and fanning four in 6.1 innings of work, while Will Flores and Jon Moser each went 2-for-4 on the day.
Harford scored what would eventually become the game-winner in the first as sophomore Woody Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) brought Harbach in to score with an RBI single. The 1-0 score would remain as Cecil stranded six runners over three innings and Harford left on one base, before the Owls loaded the bases to start the fifth.
Sophomore Jordan Heller (Loch Raven, Md./Loch Raven/Chesapeake) drew a walk and earned an RBI as sophomore Drew Burton (Kingsville, Md./Calvert Hall) crossed the plate. Sophomore Willie Barnola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/UEC J.G. Bastidas) was caught stealing home for the first out of the inning, but runners advanced into scoring position on second and third for freshman Alex Riley (Newark, Del./A.I. Dupont/Wesley) who notched a groundout RBI to give Harford a 3-0 lead.
Harbach followed with an RBI double that plated Heller to complete a three-run inning and give Harford the 4-0 lead before the Seahawks got out of the inning.
Cecil threatened with two outs and two men on before Harford turned a double play to get out of the fifth inning and Harford stranded three runners of its own in the seventh. Neither team saw a base runner after that until Cecil had a two-out single in the ninth on the way to the 4-0 Harford shutout win.
