BEL AIR, Md. - A two-hit shutout in the opener and a walkoff home run in the nightcap propelled the first-place Harford baseball team to a series sweep of Frederick on Saturday. The defending champion Fighting Owls breezed through game one behind
Michael Adams' gem in the 12-0 win, but needed the dramatics of a pinch-hit, three-run home run by
Luke Johnson when the Fighting Owls were down to their final strike in the 12-10 victory in the nightcap.
After getting shutout in the opener, Frederick attacked for a six-run third inning to take control in game two, hoping for a split. The Fighting Owls inched closer each subsequent inning, but the Cougars played add-on each time. After
Will Reed escaped a mini jam in the top of the seventh, the Fighting Owls went to work on the walkoff opportunity.
Dominic DiSabatino and
Ben Bomberger worked walks against the Cougar closer and with one out, Colby Rudis recorded a strikeout after both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Head coach
Tom Eller called on Johnson for the pinch hit duties, and the backup catcher crushed a 1-2 offering from Rudis over the wall in left center for the win.
Chase DeMars went 3-for-4 in game two with his eighth homer of the year and
JP Vail added a pair of hits and his sixth longball of the season. DeMars and
Joe Burton added doubles and Burton and
Daulton Weeks had back-to-back sacrifice flies in the sixth to begin the comeback from down, 10-7.
In the opener, Adams was the story, despite the dozen runs posted by the powerful Fighting Owls offense. The sophomore scattered two hits in five innings, facing the minimum in three innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter to improve to 5-0.
The offense gave him plenty of support, scoring four times in the first and seven in the fourth. A three-run home run from Weeks and a three-run double by Bomberger in the fourth inning put the game out of reach. Weeks went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and his MD JUCO-leading ninth home run of the season and DiSabatino, Bomberger and
Jack Hamner all chipped in with multiple hits.
The Fighting Owls host Garrett on Sunday at noon.