COLUMBIA, MD — The Centennial baseball team came away from Oakland Mills with a 9-8 win on Wednesday night, but the Scorpions didn't go down without a fight.
The Eagles (2-8) took a 9-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, when the Scorpions (0-11) scored six runs to turn the rout into a game.
"I give them a lot of credit. They put a lot of balls in play and hit a lot of balls hard. We did the same," Centennial coach Denis Ahearn said. "Both teams had some defensive miscues that led to some extra runs."
Indeed, the Scorpions committed three fielding errors in the second, leading to three Eagles runs, and four more in the sixth, which led to three more runs and Centennial's 9-1 lead in the sixth after Connor Clemens' leadoff home run.
"We have a very young infield. I had a freshman at third (Trendon Craig), a freshman at short (Eric Barros), a sophomore at second (AJ Kanakary) and a sophomore at first base (Chris Clyde)," Oakland Mills coach Matt Sillers said. "If you saw us play this team at the beginning of the year, it's a totally different team, just mentally. They're starting to believe a little bit more in themselves."
The Scorpions' bats came alive with six outs left, when they scored six runs on a leadoff double by Cameron Nikiel; a single by center fielder Ian Holderman; a one-out, eight-pitch walk by relief pitcher Tim Brumbaugh; a sac fly by Kanakary; a single by catcher Andrew Atkins; a run driven in when starting pitcher Justin Gordon was hit by a pitch; a two-run error off the bat of Craig; and a two-run single by Clyde to make it a two-run game.
Atkins, who bats leadoff for the Scorpions, finished 3-for-4 with a walk.
"He's the one who stood out today," Sillers said. "He's really improved. He puts in so much work."
The Eagles put a runner in scoring position in the seventh when shortstop Robert Hunter hit a two-out double, but Oakland Mills got out of the trouble spot with a fly-out to left.
"It's a work in progress. The kids are getting better and the one thing I ask them is, don't give up on yourself, and today they didn't give up. We were down 9-1 and came back. For a young team to do that and not just quit says a lot about them," Sillers said. "I know our record isn't that good, but we're getting better. Some of these games we're getting blown out 12-1, but it doesn't show that for the first five or six innings we're in the game, we just run out of pitching."
Brumbaugh relieved Gordon in the sixth after the starter had faced 30 batters, and kept the Scorpions in the game by pitching a scoreless seventh.
"He's a good pitcher. From the time I saw him the first time a couple of years ago, he's improved so much as a pitcher. His velocity has gotten better, his breaking ball has gotten better. He's going to be good next year," Sillers said of Brumbaugh.
In the bottom of the seventh, Holderman drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on a single by pinch hitter Erik Disanti, and scored on a single by Kanakary. But the Scorpions ultimately left the tying run on second and the winning run on first after a pop out induced by reliever Seamus Harrigan ended the game.
"I don't know if we're going to win a game this year or not," said Sillers, whose team's closest game before Wednesday was a 14-11 loss to Wilde Lake on March 25. "I just don't want them to give up. Sometimes it's a battle and it's hard, but the kids are great kids and they do everything that we ask them."
The Eagles' only other conference win this spring was against Oakland Mills, 8-0, on March 24.
"We're trying to get guys enough experience and to get in situations where they can learn the game and learn it at the varsity level. This is very much a teaching season for us," said Ahearn, who returned only one senior starter from last year. "The expectation is always to win ... but our focus has been much more along the lines of trying to teach the game, teach more than the fundamentals, to teach the finer aspects ... You're going to take your bumps and bruises, but at the same time I do feel like this group is coming along."
Harrigan, a junior, has been a pleasant surprise for the Eagles. A transfer from Chapelgate Christian Academy, he doubled twice with two runs scored as a designated hitter, then came on in relief in the sixth to earn a four-out save.
"He's been hitting the cover off the ball and then he comes in and pitches for us and does a great job there," Ahearn said.
Clemens (2B, HR), Hunter (2B), catcher Nick Varner (3-4, 2 R) and second baseman Matt McShane (2R) also performed well at the plate, while Glenn Stratton pitched five solid innings, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks to earn the win.
C (2-8) 031 014 0 - 9 9 2
OM (0-11) 010 006 1 - 8 11 10
Stratton, J. Carr (6), Harrigan (6) and Varner. Gordon, Brumbaugh (6) and Atkins.
2B: OM — Nikiel. C — Harrigan 2, Clemens, Hunter. HR: C — Clemens.