Jordan Goocharan (left) and Paul Goins have Patapsco in the state Final Four after a long absence. Goocharan scored the tying and winning run as Goins got him with a two-out single in seventh and a grounder in the 11th inning.
Catonsville coach Rich Hambor talks to his team after Monday's season-ending loss to Patapsco. The Comets weren't able to hold a 7-0 lead on the Patriots, costing them a second straight Class 3A North Region crown.
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Patapsco High baseball coach Tony Maggard wasn’t sure how his team would respond to adversity. Trailing by seven runs Monday afternoon to
Catonsville in the Class 3A North Region title game qualified as adversity.
The Patriots left Maggard relieved and near exhaustion, rallying for a 9-8 decision over the Comets in an 11 inning marathon. Patapsco (19-2 overall) will meet last year’s state finalist
Centennial in a state Final Four contest, Tuesday afternoon at 4 at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans.
Jordan Goocharan scored from third off a fielder choice grounder by senior Paul Goins with one out in the 11th, capping an epic 3 ½ hour battle. Goocharan opened the inning with a triple as the Patriots gained their first state semifinal trip since 1992.
“All year we’ve been telling them that they’re good, but they put so much pressure on themselves,” said Maggard. “We took several jabs early, but like a boxing match, it’s whether you answer the bell for the next round. How are we going to handle a team getting a lead on us and getting up for the 10th, 11th, 12 rounds.”
“Every hit counted,” said Goocharan, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and 2 RBI. “I never gave up because I didn’t want this to be my last game.”
After having to wear a pink hat to his senior prom Saturday evening, a team penalty for striking three times in the Patriots’ region semifinal round win over Towson, Goocharan willed the Patriots from the blink of elimination. He scored tying the run with two outs in the bottom of seventh after reaching on a single, then stealing second. Goins pushed Goocharan across with a single to rightfield.
Goins got the job done in the 11th, putting the ball in play with a grounder to third. Goocharan, a speedy centerfielder, got a jump off third and slid home as the throw went high. After disappointing postseasons the past two springs, Goins, one of seven senior starters, said the Patriots weren’t about let another end up empty.
“The only going through my head was I had to get ‘Gooch’ in,” said Goins, a leftfielder who had three hits. “We’ve been as one all year. We just got to keep it going.”
The defending region champ Comets (14-4) had everything going early, scoring seven runs in the second inning. Danny Taylor highlighted the rally with a three-run double. Patapsco got three back in the home portion of the second as Brent Ellick singled home Ron Bolyard and Goocharan.
A RBI groundout by Eric Ryan followed by a Goins’ infield single in the fifth brought the Patriots within 8-7. Goocharan’s single with an out in the seventh started the tying rally, and followed in the 11th with a linedrive in the rightfield gap.
“They’re the No. 1 seed because they can hit the ball,” said Catonsville coach Rich Hambor, whose team failed to capitalize on a bases loaded no out situation in the top of the 11th. “We both got some breaks. You try to do the little things right, we made a couple of mistakes.”
Maggard said offseason conditioning has been a reason for the Patriots’ breakthrough season. They’ll need to be Tuesday as Patapsco plays arguably its biggest game in 16 years.
“It’s 17 guys saying, ‘I’m going to succeed,” said Maggard. “That’s how you become a championship team. We’ve been telling them that since February. This team is good. This team has what it takes.”
Class 3A North Region finalPatapsco 9, Catonsville 8, 11 inningsCatonsville 070 010 000 00-8 13 0
Patapsco 032 020 100 01-9 15 0
Whittington, Berd (4), Clark (11) and Bradshaw; Bolyard, Ryan (8), Prassinas (11) and Ellick.
2B: Catonsville-Taylor, Whittington; Patapsco-Bolyard, Goocharan.
3B: Catonsville-Singleton, Mannone; Patapsco-Goocharan, Huber.