Cecil captured the 16-18 Maryland Babe Ruth baseball title by winning all four of its games in Taneytown. Shorthanded Cecil had just nine players in two of the four games. "I have never been more proud of a group nine or 10 players than these knuckleheads," manager Jim Martz said. "The opponents were quality teams. We faced strong pitching and great defense. This was no small accomplishment." Cecil advances to the Mid-Atlantic region tournament which begins July 24 in West Windsor N.J.
In Sunday's championship game, Cecil downed Winfield 10-0 in five innings. Chris Melrath struck out three and yielded three hits and two walks in the shutout. With Winfield unable to get around on Melrath's fastball, the right side of the Cecil defense was busy. Second baseman Zach Van Dyke fielded five grounders and Martz hauled in three fly balls. Justin Frey blasted a mammoth three-run homer, 345 feet to right-center field, to give Cecil a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Cecil scored eight runs in the inning. It started with Bo Matherly being hit by a pitch and scoring Jake Keane's RBI single. Chris Roosevelt was hit by a pitch. After Frey's blast, Van Dyke and David Jackson each walked. Martz singled and all three baserunners scored when the left fielder dropped a deep fly ball off the bat of Matherly. In the 5th, Justin Rau led off with a walk and Melrath doubled. With one out, Chris Roosevelt ripped a single through the hole, plating both Rau and Melrath and clinching the title. Winfield posed a much bigger challenge in a critical winners' bracket matchup Saturday night, but Cecil held on for a 3-2 victory. Starter Jake Keane and the reliever Jackson combined for the win. Keane, the youngest player on the team, got the start and allowed only one run over three innings, striking out two and yielding four hits. Jackson pitched superbly, surrendering one unearned run and two hits in four innings of work while fanning five. "It was David's best performance this season and kept a solid team in check with a great mix of fastball, change up and curve combos," Jim Martz said. "He was hitting his spots well." Ahead 2-1, Cecil scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Matherly led off with a single to left and scored on a Frey single. In the seventh, Winfield's leadoff batter singled, went to second on a misplay, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a single. Jackson struck out the next batter to end the game. "The intensity was amazing," said Jim Martz. "I kept them focused that the leadoff runner didn't matter. Focus on outs. And dang if they didn't just bear down and get it done…That game was special. The boys knew the significance of winning it." Keane was 3 for 3 at the plate and Van Dyke added a hit and played solid defense. Krahn was 2 for 4 as Cecil won despite having just nine players. "Coach Roger Keane came up with the term 'Cecil 9' and the boys rallied around it," said Martz. In its second game of the tournament, Cecil outlasted Prince Georges County 10-7 Friday night. Roosevelt pitched well and took a 6-1 lead into the fifth before Prince Georges took advantage of several Cecil errors to rally for a 7-6 lead. Cecil stormed back with four runs in the bottom of sixth. Frey reached on an error, Krahn added an RBI single, and Van Dyke and Jackson belted back-to-back doubles. The winning pitcher Krahn recorded five strikeouts in relief. Cecil topped Francis Scott Key 4-1 in the opening game of the tourney. The teams played 1 1/3 innings Thursday before the game was suspended by rain. It was completed Friday afternoon. Melrath hurled a complete game two-hitter with 10 strikeouts. Brennan Martz had an RBI single to give Cecil a 1-0 lead and Jackson clubbed a two-run double. Comments are closed.
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