Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROCKVILLE, Md. – The Harford baseball team went on the road and swept a pair from Montgomery College, running away with game one, 9-1, before holding off a late threat to win game two 4-1.
 
Harford (35-8, 21-1 MD JUCO) put some distance between themselves and hosting Montgomery (22-10, 12-3 MD JUCO) at the top of the conference standings. The two teams came into today's doubleheader tied in the loss column but the Fighting Owls' sweep of the Raptors gives them a two game cushion with just four conference games remaining.
 
Harford 9, Montgomery 1
Joe Burton landed a crushing blow in the third inning of the opener. Chase DeMars led the inning off with a triple and Burton followed with one of the longest home runs in Harford baseball history. He cranked a 1-0 pitch high into the trees in left field for his 10^th home run of the season. The blast was part of a five-run barrage by the potent Fighting Owls offense that pushed them out to 7-0 lead.
 
Seven runs would be more than enough for Michael Devecchio (5-2) who held the Raptors in check for the majority of the ballgame. The southpaw went all seven, giving up just three hits and a walk while striking out four. His bid for a shutout was spoiled in the seventh when he gave up a leadoff double. A pair of groundouts brought the lone run in.
 
Burton, DeMars, Dominic DiSabatino and Ty Williams all had two-hit ballgames. DeMars had a double and the aforementioned triple. DiSabatino went 2-for-5 with a double and four runs batted in. In the win, the shortstop collected his 100th career hit and 90th career RBI. Williams went 2-for-4 with a double and scored two runs.
 
Toby Sponseller had an excellent game offensively. He went 1-for-1 with a pair of walks, a run scored, a run batted in and a stolen base.
 
Harford 4, Montgomery 1
Harford used a three-run first inning and stellar work out of the bullpen to secure the sweep in game two.
 
Josh Houser made the start for Harford but was unable to continue after giving up one run in the first inning due to an injury. The Fighting Owls would use four pitchers to get through the next six innings scoreless.
 
Will Brook (2-1) came on in relief of Houser and pitched three scoreless frames en route to picking up the win. He gave up just one hit,  did not walk a batter and struck out one in long relief duty.
 
Mike Adams, TJ Pagan and DiSabatino each pitched an inning over the final three innings  to close the game out. Adams struck out the first two batters he faced. The third batter reached on an error but was caught in a rundown on a failed bunt attempt and was quickly retired to end the inning. After inducing a fly out and issuing a four pitch walk, Pagan locked  in and struck out the next two batters he faced in an easy sixth frame.
 
DiSabatino was called on from short stop to the mound to close the game out in the seventh and, though it was rocky, was able to pick up his third save. The first two batters reached on a single and walk. He then retired the next two on a fly out to center, which advanced the runner from second to third, and struck the next batter out swinging. He allowed a free pass to the next batter to load the bases but buckled down and struck out the next batter to the end the threat and the game.
 
DiSabatino got the offense off to a big start in the first inning, leading the game off with a sharp single to left field. JP Vail followed with a double down the right field line and DeMars was able to poke a center just out of the reach of the second baseman up the middle. DeMars then stole second and the ball sailed into centerfield allowing Vail to score and DeMars to advance to third. DeMars would come in to score on Daulton Weeks' RBI groundout.
 
Kyle Burger led off the fourth inning with a fortunate triple. He hit a line drive to centerfield that took a huge hop over the head of the centerfielder and rolled all the way to the fence nearly 500 feet away from home, allowing Burger to move all the way to third. Two batters later, DiSabatino hit a single to center as well, scoring Burger from third. DiSabatino was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double.
 
Next up, the Fighting Owls will pay a visit to their Region XX rival Potomac State on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.