By Andy States
Looking out onto the field at Joe Cannon Stadium during the early stages of Tuesday’s 3A baseball semifinal, La Plata coach Dan DeVitis could probably barely recognize his team.
Characteristically a slick-fielding squad, the Warriors committed four errors in the first two innings of their state semifinal showdown with the North Harford Hawks to fall into an early one-run deficit. And while La Plata was able to tie the game in the third inning, the team also struggled to get into any sort of offensive groove against North Harford pitchers Cody Brittain and Kevin Mooney.
“I was really frustrated as a coach” DeVitis said. “I was frustrated with a lot of things today, but as the game went on it turned from frustration to pride. I saw how much it meant to these boys and they just kept fighting and fighting and fighting. I just kept telling them, ‘Don’t quit. We have to find a way. They’re not scoring. We have to find a way to score and win this game.’”
It took all of 15 innings, but La Plata found a way. After outlasting Brittain and Mooney – against whom the Warriors accumulated just six hits through 14 innings – Jayrese Jones scored on Austin Barefoot’s double in the bottom of the 15th to lift La Plata to a 2-1 victory and a spot in Saturday night’s 3A championship game against the J.M. Bennett Clippers at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. The state championship game appearance is the first for La Plata since it won the 3A crown in 2008.
“One thing I have to give the kids credit for is they never quit,” DeVitis said. “We were down 1-0, and these are the two best pitchers we’ve faced all year. They were nasty.
“What can you do? We couldn’t get any hits. So finally when we got the guys on we got breaks. We hit the ball hard and that’s what won the game.”
North Harford (16-5) boasted the majority of the opportunities throughout, and loaded the bases in each of the first two innings – innings in which La Plata (20-3) made four errors on routine plays. But through it all, the Hawks were not able to take full advantage, scoring just once when Zach Knotts crossed the plate with two outs in the top of the first on what could have been an inning-ending ground out that ended up the second of La Plata’s miscues.
But after escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second, La Plata started to tighten up. In his five innings of work, starter Chris Duelley faced at least one runner in scoring position each inning, but refused to surrender another run. Anderson Burgess relieved Duelley to start the sixth and picked up right where Duelley left off. Getting stronger as his outing progressed, Burgess worked eight shutout innings to keep the Warriors in position to win.
“I just tried to throw strikes,” Burgess said. “I tried to challenge the hitters and give my team a chance to make plays.
“Our coaches kept us up. Even the couple times I was frustrated, my coaches kept me in the game, told me to keep throwing strikes.”
Through 14 innings, North Harford’s pitchers dominated the game. La Plata was able to get its run back in the bottom of the third, when a throwing error following Troy Calvert’s double allowed Doug Wherle to score. But otherwise, Brittain and Mooney were in complete command.
Working a total of 7 1/3 innings, Brittain surrendered just four hits and two walks while setting four Warriors down on strikes. Mooney was even better, allowing just two hits and two walks in 6 2/3 while striking out 13. But as both teams’ top pitchers ran out of innings, the advantage shifted to La Plata.
When Burgess departed following the 13th inning, La Plata got one out from freshman Alex Calvert before turning to senior Lachlan Whyte. Whyte went a scoreless inning and two-thirds, and appeared set to continue on in the fashion that Burgess had pitched the previous eight innings. But when Brittain and Mooney had finished for the day on the mound, the Warriors finally struck.
Jones led off the bottom of the 15th with a single, moved to second on a base hit by Zach Snell and scored on Barefoot’s shot over the center fielder’s head to bring the marathon game to a close.
“We were on the ropes almost every inning. It just showed the resiliency of the team,” DeVitis said. “Chris Duelley, Anderson Burgess, they were bulldogs. They just fought and fought and fought.
“It was our pitching that really kept us in this game today. And after we had some errors early on, we played solid, fundamental baseball after that.”
La Plata will face J.M. Bennett (21-0), which defeated Quince Orchard in Tuesday’s other semifinal, at 7 p.m. Saturday night for the 3A championship. The matchup pits two champion programs from the past five years, as Bennett won the 2006 title.
“It’s so important,” Burgess said of the opportunity to play for the state title. “I’ve never been there. Being a transfer from Westlake, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance, honestly. This opportunity is great and I want to take full advantage of it.”
La Plata 2, North Harford 1 (15 innings)
NH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 9 3
LP 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 2 9 4
WP: Whyte, LP Saylor
2B – Knotts (NH), T. Calvert 2 (LP), Barefoot (LP)
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