BEL AIR, Md. - The Harford baseball team (15-6, 6-1 MD JUCO) continued its hot play to earn a huge Region XX Division I sweep over rival Hagerstown (13-4, 0-3 MD JUCO) on Saturday. The two victories advance the Fighting Owls' win streak to eight games.

Harford battled through the opener to win 8-4 before blasting game two wide open with a two separate back-to-back home runs, winning via the run-rule, 13-3. The victory also clinched the Battle of the Birds Championship for Harford, the annual rivalry contest between the two schools.

Harford 8, Hagerstown 4
Michael Adams (3-0) battled against the tough Hawk lineup scattering nine hits and allowing all four runs, three earned, while striking out five batters in five-plus innings of work. The righthander allowed a single run in four innings but escaped a few jams with big pitches and great defense.

Adams left the bases loaded in the first and got help when JP Vail gunned a runner out at the plate to complete a double play and leave two on in the fourth. After the first two batters reached in the fifth, the sophomore retired the next three batters on six pitches to end another threat.

Offensively, the Fighting Owls grinded out eight runs on nine hits, posting a crooked numbers three times, including a three-run fifth inning to put the game out of reach. Freshman outfielder Toby Sponseller gave Harford the lead for good with a two-run single to center with two outs.

Seven different Fighting Owls collected a hit in the win, including a pair of knocks for Vail and Dominic DiSabatino. Vail brought Nick Delp home twice on a second-inning single and fifth-inning triple while DISabatino scored three runs.

The Hawks made one last run at the Fighting Owls in the sixth when things got interesting. TJ Pagan entered the game with a runner on and loaded the bases and faced the Hawks top hitter on the day in Nick Stegman. The designated hitter grounded a slow roller to second and Chase DeMars tried to turn two, but the home plate umpire ruled interference on the runner and awarded the Fighting Owls with a double play. Hagerstown played the game under protest from that point, but the call virtually ended any chance at a comeback.

Harford 13, Hagerstown 3
The Fighting Owls entered the fourth inning of the snowy game two tied at 3-3 after a walk-filled top of the inning and busted the game wide open with 10-straight runs to end the game early. Harford blasted back-to-back homers in the fourth and fifth innings.

Sponseller and Vail put an exclamation point on a six-run fourth inning with the first pair of long balls. DeMars tripled home a pair between two sacrifice flies by Daulton Weeks and Delp before the two-out solo shots.

In the fifth, Joe Burton and DeMars did their best Sponseller/Vail impression with another pair of solo dingers. Sponseller's double off the wall plated Delp for the game-ender.

Josh Silvestri struggled with his command in the blustery day, walking seven in 3.2 innings of work. Will Brooke came in to pitch the final 1.1 innings, striking out two and allowing just one hit.

The defending champs travel to Cecil on Tuesday.