McHenry, MD – Garrett College overwhelmed West Virginia Wesleyan College's junior varsity, 36-10, Monday afternoon to snap a three-game baseball losing streak that took place during a pair of critical divisional doubleheaders last week.
"Hopefully this will get us back on track for the stretch run," said GC head coach Eric Hallenbeck, whose team sent 20 batters to the plate in a 14-run second inning that made it 18-0. "Everyone contributed, which is always good."
Last week's divisional showdowns actually started well enough as the Lakers used an extra-inning win in Game 1 to split last Thursday's doubleheader against NJCAA Division II Region 20-East leader Chesapeake College. GC wasn't as fortunate in extra innings against Hagerstown Community College, which used a nine-run eighth inning in last Friday's opener to fuel a sweep against Region 20-West rival GC.
"We just put too many guys on base," said Hallenbeck after three walks and a hit batsmen among the first five hitters set up Hagerstown's eighth-inning explosion, which also included a grand slam by Aiden Grudzinski and a solo shot by Kyle Lore.
Frederick Community College (38-6 overall, 22-4 division) passed GC (31-11, 20-6) into first place in Region 20-West as a result of last week's action. Allegany College of Maryland (28-18, 18-12) and Hagerstown (29-12, 13-9) are third and fourth, respectively, in the West as teams vie for the two first-round byes in next month's divisional tournament.
Monday's victory was a welcome boost for the Lakers as they head into their final 11 games playing five teams with a combined record of 128-81. That includes two more games each with Hagerstown and Frederick.
Hallenbeck hopes the win over Wesleyan is the beginning of a quick turnaround.
"You don't go through a baseball season without hitting some bumps in the road," said Hallenbeck. "Hopefully we got that out of our system."
Christian Harrington had a three-run homer, a two-run single, and drew a bases-loaded walk while driving in six runs against West Virginia Wesleyan. Najib Duversaint had three hits and drove in three runs for GC, which finished with 28 hits.
Hagerstown 16, GC 7
Hagerstown 11, GC 6
McHenry, MD – Warren Bernard walked the only two batters he faced and Connor Phillips forced in runs with a walk and a hit batsmen to set up Hagerstown's nine-run eighth inning in last Thursday's opener.
Isaac Grove then greeted Dylan Burton, the third Laker pitcher of the inning, with a run-scoring single that made it 10-7. Aiden Grudzinski followed with a grand slam to blow the game open.
Ironically, the game almost didn't reach extra innings. Brandyn Gonzalez crushed a leadoff double that nearly cleared the fence for a game-winning homer. The Lakers bunted Gonzalez to third, but couldn't get him home.
"Gonzalez missed a home run by two feet," lamented GC head coach Eric Hallenbeck.
Braylon Conner (three runs, two RBI) went 4-for-5 in the opener with two doubles to lead Hagerstown's 16-hit attack. Grudzinski (homer, two runs, six RBI), Ethan Shimmel (double, run), Grove (two runs, RBI), and Kyle Lore (homer, run, RBI) each added two hits.
Quinn Illig had Hagerstown's third home run in the opener. Reliever Nic Pierce (3-0) threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing one hit with three strikeouts to win Game 1.
Gonzalez (double, run, RBI) went 3-for-4 while Christian Harrington (double, two runs), Easton Rhoten (double, run), and Ty Giblin (double, two runs) each had two hits for the Lakers in Game 1.
In the nightcap, Garrett pitchers walked nine batters and hit two while yielding seven hits. Grudzinski and Grove each scored twice and drove in two runs for Hagerstown.
Angel Oquendo (3-for-4, run, RBI) was the only Laker with a multi-hit game in the nightcap. Noah Broadwater homered and scored twice.
GC 6, Chesapeake 5
Chesapeake 9, GC 4
McHenry, MD – The Skipjacks erased 3-0 and 5-3 deficits, but Garrett claimed last Thursday's extra-inning opener by pushing across the winning run in the eighth.
Chesapeake reliever Alex Shelkin issued a leadoff walk to Brandyn Gonzalez, and Laker Noah Broadwater followed with a single up the middle to get the eighth-inning rally started. Kace Shearer then laid down a bunt that Shelkin fielded, but his errant throw to first allowed Gonzalez to score the winning run.
Broadwater and Christian Harrington each went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs for the Lakers. Gregory Eddy, the last of three GC pitchers, improved to 3-0 while retiring four of the five hitters he faced.
Chesapeake won the nightcap as Chase Hubred (three RBI), Marcello Rosanova (RBI, double, two walks), Elyjah Sayre (two runs, RBI), and Jaxson Monroney (two runs) each had two hits.
Winning pitcher Daniel Kissel (5-1) allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Ethan Storm pitched three scoreless innings to earn the save.
Conner Blake, the second of eight Laker pitchers, fell to 4-1 with the loss while yielding four runs on four hits in one inning. Harrington (3-for-4, homer, two runs, two RBI) and Gonzalez (2-for-3, walk, RBI) were the only Lakers with multiple hits in the nightcap.
