BEL AIR, Md. – Harford Baseball claimed its opening game matchup over No. 4 USC Sumter, as the No. 1 Fighting Owls scored a pair of runs late to defeat the Fire Ants 6-4 on Friday afternoon.
Pitching dominated the early stages of the contest, as
Zack Oswald (ND) cruised through the opening. An RBI groundout in the fourth plated Sumter's first run of the day, but
Blake Mayberry matched with a single to right that scored Guzman.
Sumter took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a pair of RBI base knocks, but the Fire Ants ended up stranding two runners in scoring position after a ground out and a strike out. Harford made them pay with a big bottom frame, highlighted by a solo bomb from
Quinn Madden and a towering shot by
Ehi Okojie that scored two to flip the advantage back to Harford.
A Harford error in the top half of the sixth tied the contest, but that would be the last run either team scored until the eight. This in large part for Harford was due to
Joe Clancy, who weaved through the Fire Ants lineup in the late innings. Clancy's heads up play with two outs in the seventh caught a Sumter runner red-handed after he tried to steal home.
Clancy (3-0) put the Fire Ants away in order in the eighth, giving Harford a chance to take the lead. Sumter put two away on plays by the second baseman, but back-to-back walks gave way to consecutive RBI singles by
Andrew Sicinski and Madden. Clancy trotted back out for the ninth and took down the Fire Ants in four batters for the win.
The Fighting Owls leap to 46-6 on the year.
Scoring Summary: Click Here
Box Score Highlights
- Madden led with two hits and two RBI
- Lenny Montesano doubled
- Jeremiah Guzman finished with one hit and one stolen base
- Harford has won four of its last five contests against Sumter
Up Next
The Fighting Owls face Florence-Darlington on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The winner automatically qualifies for Sunday's championship game(s), while the loser competes Saturday at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.
