By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
As the sixth inning ended in Friday afternoon's baseball game at Thomas Stone, Calvert coach Travis Mister had a question for Brandon Crigger, his ace left-hander who had already endured a long day on the mound.
"I asked him at the end of the sixth if he wanted to finish it," Mister said. "He just kind of looked at me. He didn't say anything. He just looked at me."
The answer was in the stare, and Crigger, who had retired the hosts in order just once through six innings, proceeded to set the Cougars down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the Cavaliers' 3-2 win. Crigger allowed just two hits and struck out 14.
"I wanted to go back out there," Crigger said. "He asked me -- of course I wanted to finish the game. Going out there I just wanted to throw strikes."
Crigger struck out both Ricky Cusic and Trevor Franklin to start the inning, then got Tim Harrigan on a grounder to third to cap the win. Calvert continuted to build on the momentum with a 6-1 win over Patuxent on Saturday.
Stone (9-2-1, 8-2-1) opened Friday's game in auspicous fashion, with Cusic blasting a home run over the left-field fence to lead off the first inning. But that was to be just one of a pair of base hits on the day. While he walked four and hit a batter, Crigger settled in and dominated for much of the game.
"It wasn't the first home run and it wasn't the last home run," Crigger said. "It's going to happen. You have to settle down and know the fielders can field ground balls and catch fly balls and try to put the ball in play for them."
Mister likened the performance to a recent start against Leonardtown when Crigger surrendered an early long ball and followed with an effective perfomance.
"Then he settles back in," Mister said. "He made some quality pitches. He's a competitor. He's a bulldog out there."
Calvert (11-3, 9-3) tied the game in the fourth when Mike Mohler scored on Jon Upton's single. The Cavaliers then scored two in the fifth to take the lead. Bryan McHale walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on a Crigger grounder into right-center. B.J. Greening later drove in Calvert's third run with a single to center to make the score 3-1.
Stone manufactured a run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 3-2. Cusic was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to third and eventually scored on subsequent errors. Stone won its first nine games, but went 0-1-1 on the week after dropping its first in a loss to Chopticon on April 18. Still, Coach Ed Glaeser was not displeased with the effort.
"We did what we had to do," he said. "It's the way we play. We scratched an clawed."
The Cougars did their best to manipulate whatever situation they could, and ran five different pitchers out to the mound during the game. Brandon Godfrey started. The train that followed included Harrigan, Ryan Kellough, Spencer Schliep and Franklin.
"We just didn't have enough offense today," Glaeser said. "Crigger's a good pitcher, but we battled.
"We just don't have enough guys that have seen this before."
While led by Cusic and Harrigan, who have both been solid contributors for years, Stone lacks deep experience through its roster and depends on role players playing solid fundamental baseball. From the first days of practice, most everything has changed in terms of who's playing where for the Cougars, according to Glaeser, so the team is still evolving.
"We started off so strong, but the games were the same," Glaeser said. "Everybody thinks we've got some juggernaut over here. No, it's not that. It's just that's the way we play. We have two of the best players in the conference and we just fill in around them.
"I'm not disappointed. I tell you what, if you told me this bunch was going to win five or six games I would have bet you. And we've won nine so far and probably should have another one. You can't be displeased with that."
Greening, who had missed a couple weeks with an injured ankle prior to returning on Thursday against Great Mills, provided a boost to Calvert's offense batting out of the No. 7 hole in the lineup. The senior went 3 for 3 with an RBI and was the only Calvert player with more than one base hit.
"I knew I couldn't miss the game," he said. "It's one of the biggest games of our season."
And the game possibly had some extra significance after Calvert dropped a 5-3 decision to Great Mills the day before.
"You've got to suit up again the next day and against another very, very good team," Mister said. "I'm very happy with the way they responded."
Added Greening: "We had to get something going. The win definitely helps the team's spirits."
Calvert 3, Stone 2
C 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 - 3 9 3
S 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 2 1
WP: Crigger, LP: Kellough
HR - Cusic (S)
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