Sean Bantner provided for their needs.

Gavin Martin provided the unexpected.

And that combination provided No. 13 C. Milton Wright with an 8-2 win yesterday over No. 14 Westminster in a non-league game in Bel Air.

Martin, a junior, did not allow a hit or a run in four innings of relief in his first varsity appearance. For the Mustangs, it was a welcome change from starter John Naglieri, who struggled mightily with his control and put C.M. Wright in a 2-0 hole after a half inning.

But the Mustangs (2-0) rallied with four runs in the third and Bantner, a senior, supplied the key hit. His two-out single was a part of a four-hit inning and scored Scott Guzewich with the game-winning run.

Bantner finished with two hits, three steals and three runs scored.

"We have great leadership and Sean certainly is a fine ball player," said C.M. Wright coach Bob Rudolph. "We have a lot of kids who can hit the ball well."

After getting the lead, Rudolph called on Martin, a left-hander who threw strikes in retiring the first five batters he faced. After he allowed consecutive walks, Martin struck out the Owls' Mike McFeeley to end the fifth then retired Westminster in order over the last two innings for his first victory.

"Gavin's a very deceptive pitcher and he's a different type of pitcher than our first one, who ran into a few problems with his control," Rudolph said. "Martin has come along a little quicker than we expected and we didn't want to put too much pressure on him so we decided to go with Naglieri first."

Said Martin, "I was just trying to throw strikes. This was a good start for me and I'm looking forward to more chances."

Naglieri's troubles didn't bode well with the Mustangs up against the Owls' first-team All-Metro right-hander Mike Taylor.

Taylor also struggled in the first, walking the first two batters he faced, but appeared to be in a groove by striking out four of the next seven Mustangs' hitters.

But Taylor's defense betrayed him in the third. Shortstop Jason Jarrett couldn't handle a grounder by the Mustangs' leadoff hitter, Chad Eberly, and Nate Weigl followed with a triple to left field that ignited C.M. Wright's decisive inning. The Mustangs' rally was extended after Jarrett overthrew first base on a groundout.

"We had some physical errors and they kind of snowballed on us." said Westminster co-coach Jim Rodriguez.

C.M. Wright added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and two in the sixth.

Pub Date: 3/24/99