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It might not have been Sean Mosley going against Brandon Greene, when the St.
Frances Panthers visited the Towson Catholic Owls, on Thursday at the Pine
Grove Middle School Field in Parkville, but it was, never the less, a
great match-up between TC's Kevin Baron and the Panthers' Darrel "Boom"
Anderson in a baseball duel that pitted the Owls freshman right-hander against
the St. Frances sophomore standout The Owls would prevail 4-2, in a game that
was played in 90 minutes to remain in the playoff hunt in the MIAA C
Conference.
"Boom" would live up to his nickname when he blasted a solo home run to deep left field in the bottom of the first, and he added a double in the sixth. Anderson also scored twice and went all the way on the mound for coach Brian Boles, surrendering just four hits. But Baron, a ninth-grade phenom with great promise, also had two hits, a double and a single, and he scored two runs. On the hill he scattered six hits and held the Panthers to just two runs, en route to his first complete game win for coach Jesse Thomas.
Even more impressive about both young hurlers was their control. Baron fanned twelve and walked one, and through the first four innings, he had ten strikeouts. Anderson fanned seven and only walked one, but he was the victim of two unearned runs that made the difference in the game.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, TC would score twice, once on an RBI single by Joe Kelly, and again on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze. Thomas sent pinch-hitter Ed Wunderer to the plate with Kelly on third, and Wunderer laid down a perfect bunt as Kelly dashed accross the plate. The Panthers answered with a run in the top of the sixth, to make it 3-2 when Anderson doubled and Devin Hill singled him in, but the Owls got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Baron doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an infield out.
Antwan Crawford led off the seventh for the Panthers with a single, but the visitors had their hopes dashed when Baron snared Kris Dixon's bunt attempt in the air, and quickly doubled Crawford off first. Baron then got Jerome Awkward to pop to short to end the game.
"I had good stuff today, and got great support from my teammates," said Baron.
Thomas, in his second year with Towson Catholic, started six freshmen and two sophomores, while his Panther counterpart started four freshman and three sophomores. Both schools are building baseball programs that are rapidly becoming competitive.
"We're very young, but we're developing a solid program," said Thomas, who with Towson Catholic athletic director Jeff Palumbo started baseball last season at the Towson school. Boles, who is assisted by his brother Mark, is also preaching fundamental baseball to his young players. "We play hard and try to minimize our mistakes," said the fourth year coach.
We can look for good things from both of these programs in years to come, as the underclassmen gain experience and maturity under great leadership.
Towson Catholic 4, St. Frances 2
SF 100 001 0 - 2 6 2
TC 100 021 x - 4 4 0
Anderson and Wallace; Baron and Beckwith
2B: SF-Anderson; TC-Baron.
HR: SF-Anderson.
WP Baron LP Anderson
"Boom" would live up to his nickname when he blasted a solo home run to deep left field in the bottom of the first, and he added a double in the sixth. Anderson also scored twice and went all the way on the mound for coach Brian Boles, surrendering just four hits. But Baron, a ninth-grade phenom with great promise, also had two hits, a double and a single, and he scored two runs. On the hill he scattered six hits and held the Panthers to just two runs, en route to his first complete game win for coach Jesse Thomas.
Even more impressive about both young hurlers was their control. Baron fanned twelve and walked one, and through the first four innings, he had ten strikeouts. Anderson fanned seven and only walked one, but he was the victim of two unearned runs that made the difference in the game.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, TC would score twice, once on an RBI single by Joe Kelly, and again on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze. Thomas sent pinch-hitter Ed Wunderer to the plate with Kelly on third, and Wunderer laid down a perfect bunt as Kelly dashed accross the plate. The Panthers answered with a run in the top of the sixth, to make it 3-2 when Anderson doubled and Devin Hill singled him in, but the Owls got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Baron doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an infield out.
Antwan Crawford led off the seventh for the Panthers with a single, but the visitors had their hopes dashed when Baron snared Kris Dixon's bunt attempt in the air, and quickly doubled Crawford off first. Baron then got Jerome Awkward to pop to short to end the game.
"I had good stuff today, and got great support from my teammates," said Baron.
Thomas, in his second year with Towson Catholic, started six freshmen and two sophomores, while his Panther counterpart started four freshman and three sophomores. Both schools are building baseball programs that are rapidly becoming competitive.
"We're very young, but we're developing a solid program," said Thomas, who with Towson Catholic athletic director Jeff Palumbo started baseball last season at the Towson school. Boles, who is assisted by his brother Mark, is also preaching fundamental baseball to his young players. "We play hard and try to minimize our mistakes," said the fourth year coach.
We can look for good things from both of these programs in years to come, as the underclassmen gain experience and maturity under great leadership.
Towson Catholic 4, St. Frances 2
SF 100 001 0 - 2 6 2
TC 100 021 x - 4 4 0
Anderson and Wallace; Baron and Beckwith
2B: SF-Anderson; TC-Baron.
HR: SF-Anderson.
WP Baron LP Anderson
