By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
For five innings at Patuxent on Tuesday, Thomas Stone's Ricky Cusic stole the show.
The Stone senior had faced the minimum and struck out eight -- including a stretch of seven straight between the first and third innings -- through five complete. Coupled with a two-run Tim Harrigan homer in the first, a solo shot by Spencer Schliep in the fourth and an RBI double by Anthony Waterloo in the top of the sixth, the only question seemed to be whether or not Cusic would get the no-hitter.
But a few errors and a Joey Mindick three-run shot later the no-hitter, and the win, were lost for Stone. Play was eventually halted due to lightning and an oncoming storm with the teams tied 5-5.
"We just didn't do some things today and it's really a shame," Stone coach Ed Glaeser said. "Cusic really dominated the game today for five innings. It was domination and then we don't make some plays."
Stone (8-1-1, 7-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Tim Harrigan's two-run shot over the center-field fence in the first inning. For much of the game, that appeared to be all the support Cusic would need.
Cusic walked Patuxent's Donnie Holtzclaw to lead off the bottom of the first, but Holtzclaw was eliminated the next at-bat on a strikeout-caught stealing double play. In the fourth, Patuxent's Mike Swearingen drew a one-out walk but was promptly picked off by Cusic the following at-bat. In between, very few Panthers were even able to put the ball in play, as seven of the first nine outs recorded by Stone came via Cusic strikeouts.
"I think we were a little overwhelmed," Patuxent coach Keith Powell said of his young team, which includes four sophomores and a freshman. "I think just the aura of Thomas Stone got to us early and and we played scared."
Patuxent (5-6-1, 4-5-1) only had one hit through the whole game, but that hit proved to be a big one. After a walk and three errors -- two on attempted sacrifice bunts -- allowed the Panthers to cut the defict to 4-2 with one down and runner's still on first and third, Mindick strode to the plate. Mindick then drove a Cusic offering over the left-field fence to not only account for Patuxent's only hit, but give the hosts a 5-4 lead.
"We bunted a couple times, which has been what's winnings games for us, the little things," Powell said. "Then [Stone] started making errors, which they normally don't do, and we got the big hit."
Stone came back to load the bases in the seventh, and scored the tying run when Pete Freeland's walk pused Cusic across the plate. Patuxent got out of the jam with a double play, but failed to score in its half of the seventh. The game was called in the top of the eighth, with Stone having a runner on first with one out.
"You can't do what we did in the sixth inning," Glaeser said. "It's inexusable. To have outs given to you and not take them and to really have the game in control and not do some basic plays getting outs."
Patuxent is slated to travel to Calvert on Wednesday. Stone, which was unbeaten until a loss to Chopticon last Saturday, will look to bounce back when it hosts Lackey.
"Thomas Stone doesn't lose games like this," Glaeser said. "When we have a lead like that late in a game, we don't lose these games. We just don't. Our history says it, but we didn't do it today and it's disappointing."
Stone 5, Patuxent 5
S 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 - 5 8 3
P 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 - 5 1 1
2B - Waterloo (S); HR - Harrigan (S), Schliep (S), Mindick (P)
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