BEL AIR, Md. - Harford baseball got out of gates early on Saturday morning, then held on late to defeat No. 2 Florence-Darlington 7-5 for a birth in Sunday's East District Championship Final.
Blake Mayberry put the Fighting Owls up three in the first after sending a ball sailing over the center field wall.
Quinn Madden cracked a solo shot in the second for a 4-0 lead. The Stingers picked up a run in the third via the long ball but ceded one right back on an error in the bottom of the frame.
Lenny Montesano went deep in the fourth for Harford's third home run of the contest. From their, Harford scored just one run (via bases loaded walk) while Florence-Darlington plated four. The Stingers comeback attempt was impeded by right-hander
Bobby Spencer (S, 1), who would allow one run over the final 2 2/3 innings. A one-out double by the Stingers put the tying run at the plate in the ninth, but Spencer sat down the next two batters via punch out and pop out to force Florence-Darlington into the loser's bracket.
Harford received an excellent start from
Connor Blantz (7-1). The veteran struck out a half-dozen Stinger batters over 4 1/3. Lefty reliever
Joe Grassi followed Blantz in the fifth and gave up one hit over two innings of work.
The Fighting Owls improve to 47-6 with the win.
Scoring Summary: Click Here
Box Score Highlights
Up Next
Harford takes on Florence-Darlington once again on Sunday, May 15 at Noon.
The Stingers must defeat Harford twice, while the Fighting Owls only need to win once in order to earn their ticket to the NJCAA DI JUCO World Series.
