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Catcher Paul Beers put a big swing on the ball in the fourth for his first home run of the season.
Atholton entered Friday's game with a troubled playoff past, marred by two consecutive first round losses in the years preceding. However, the Raiders were more than ready to end that streak Friday when they took a commanding 8-2 win over the Howard Lions.
Jamie Williams got the start on the mound with hopes to collect his second win against Howard on the season, and started strong with three scoreless innings to begin the ballgame.
In the second and third innings, Atholton began to put runs on the board. Outfielder Jake Yasenka ignited the offense with a hit, and later scored on an error.
The Raiders threatened again on a single by Matt Collier, but centerfielder Joey Broderick got the ball in quickly to catch Thews out on a close play at home.
Shortstop Kory Britton then shrugged off the missed opportunity with a two-out single that brought in Collier for a 2-0 lead after the second.
The bats went right back to work for the Raiders in the inning to follow. Catcher Paul Beers, who fell just shy of the wall last game, got the distance this time around when he went yard for his first home run on the year. Thews then added an RBI before the inning's end for a 4-0 lead.
Howard was not ready to fall out of contention early, and took advantage of pitcher William's control struggles in the third to get two runs across off pitcher Pat Cain's single, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Unfortunately for the Lions, they would only manage those two runs. Howard would have to seek relief from the bullpen twice in the sixth, while Atholton batted around and put up four more runs to get the 8-2 playoff victory.
First baseman Chris Acker had a 3-for-3 performance in his first bout with Howard, and posted an almost identical game this time around with three more hits on the day. Jonathan Thews also added three singles of his own, while leadoff man Britton swiped three bases.
"We had a good game we just had to come out here and get the job done in the first round of the playoffs," said Acker, who is now batting .421 with his most recent performance. "We had a good joint effort and we got to do it again Monday."
Williams tossed his third complete game of the season as he collected the win, striking out three in seven innings of work and allowing only four hits.
The somewhat quiet Lion offense got most of its help from centerfielder Joey Broderick, who had two hits in the contest. Pitcher Pat Cain threw five and one-third innings, allowing five runs (four earned), and collecting two RBIs at the plate. Despite the solid individual performance, Cain and his Lions will have to wait another year as they have fallen out of the 3A State Playoff running.
"We had a tough time this year, but we just got to come back next year," said Cain following the loss. "We're not losing any of our pitchers so that’s a good thing."
Atholton will continue their way through the brackets on Monday when they host either North Harford or Northeast-AA.
