Despite the threat of thunderstorms and a steady light rain for much of the day, Aberdeen and Harford Tech baseball teams were able to play and both needed extra innings to post opening round playoff victories on Friday.
Aberdeen needed 11 innings to get past visiting Towson, 7-6, in Class 3A North, Section II play, while Tech went eight innings at Elkton to win, 12-7, in 2A East, Section I play.
A handful of other games were postponed and rescheduled for Saturday. C. Milton Wright and host Edgewood will play at 10 a.m. in 3A North, while Bel Air will host Parkville at noon in 4A North, Section I. Also, in 1A North, Section I, Havre de Grace will host Joppatowne at 10 a.m.
In Aberdeen's win, Christian Melendez's bases loaded, two-out infield single lifted Aberdeen (13-7) to the win at Ripken Baseball's Yankee Stadium.
Freshman Jack Smith (2-4, 2 RBIs) drew the second of his two intentional walks in the inning and scored the winning run on the Melendez (3-6) single. Jacob Murdock was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases and set up the game-winning hit.
Towson had scoring chances in the 10th and 11th innings, while Aberdeen had even better chances in the ninth and 10th innings, before finally breaking through in the 11th.
Both teams dotted the scoreboard with runs over the first four innings and after seven, the game was knotted at 6 all.
Mike Cadigan, who had two hits for Towson (3-15), led off the game with a triple and he scored when Alec Pine reached on an error. Pine later scored on a wild pitch.
Aberdeen also scored twice in the first. Leadoff man David Fulp walked, stole second and scored on Sam Smith's RBI double. Sam Smith added the second run, scoring on an Anthony Cuellar single.
Towson slipped back ahead with a run in the second, but Aberdeen took its first lead in the third. Andrew Brndjar (2-5, RBI) singled and Cuellar walked. Both were balked into scoring position and driven home on Jack Smith's two-run single.
Cadigan put Towson back ahead in the fourth with a two-RBI single, but Aberdeen answered with two in the fourth as well, to sneak back ahead, 6-5. Brndjar doubled in Spencer Topper with the first run and Sam Smith singled in Brndjar.
It was Cadigan who drove in the tie run in the sixth, setting up the extra innings.
Jack Smith led Aberdeen with four hits and two RBIs in six at bats. Fulp pitched four scoreless innings of relief for the win. Andrew Brndjar threw the first seven, allowing six hits, four walks and two hit batters. He struck out five.
Pine took the loss in relief of Kyle Sulkowski, who pitched into the eighth inning for the Generals.
Tech wins late
In Tech's win, the Cobras (6-13) were down 6-5 going into the top of the seventh inning. The Cobras scored two runs to take a 7-6 lead, but in the bottom of the seventh, Tech pitcher Josh Hucke hit the first two batters of the inning and then a single plated the tie run. The Elks (6-13) had two runners on with no outs, but Hucke got the next three batters out to force the extra inning.
The Cobras then exploded for five unanswered runs in the top of the eighth inning. Devin Guido had two, two-run doubles in the seventh and eighth innings and finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs.
Other contributors for Tech were Blake Godwin, 2-for-5 with a double and four runs scored; Blake Melchior 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored; Justin Klingelhofer, 2-for-2 with one RBI and two walks; Brandon Mitchell, 2-for-4 with a double and RBI; Jarrett Schneider, 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two walks; and Ethan Rachuba, 1-for-1.
Huck pitched a complete game for the win, allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits. He struck out five.