Patrick Rogers (Mount Saint Joe) had three hits and scored three runs, including the winning run for the Arsenal
Monte Wade (St.Paul's) put the Buzz ahead in the top of the seventh with a clutch RBI single
Rafael Nadal was
playing Roger Federer in the Gentlemen's Final at Wimbledon and the
Baltimore Buzz and the Aberdeen Arsenal were squaring off in Pasadena
for the Lake Shore Fourth of July Blast Tournament Championship at the
same time. The similarities were striking.
The Buzz came in at 33-4, and the Arsenal at 32-5, two of the best
records in under 14 baseball in the state. Nadal amd Federer are the
top two tennis players in the world. Nadal was up 2-0 over Federer
after winning 6-4, 6-4. Federer came back to tie it, winning two
tie-breakers 7-6, 7-6 before Nadal would win the crown in the fifth set
9-7.
At the Lake Shore Baseball Complex, the Arsenal was up 2-0 before the
Buzz tied it in the sixth inning 2-2. The Buzz would take the lead in
the top of the seventh, 3-2, and left-hander Sam Kmiec, 11-0,
(Salesianum-DE) was on the mound for the Buzz. With two down in the
bottom of the seventh, it looked like Kmiec would be 12-0, just as at
Wimbledon, after Federer tied Nadal, it looked like he would win his
sixth consecutive grass-court crown there.
Nadal came back to win the match 3-2, and the Arsenal came back on
consecutive singles by Patrick Rogers (Mount St. Joseph) and Ryan Jurney
(also the Mount) to tie the score at 3-3, before Ryan Ripken (Gilman)
hammered a shot to first that plated Rogers to give the Arsenal a 4-3
win.
Rogers had three hits and scored three runs for coach Jeff Jurney. He
singled to start the bottom of the first, and scored when second
baseman Brent Jones (Severna Park) tripled. He doubled leading off the
bottom of the fourth, and scored on a sac-fly to center by Jurney,
racing home on an overthrow to third. Jurney was 4-for-4 in a big 14-5 Arsenal win over the Little Orioles on Saturday.
The Buzz scored twice in the sixth on a walk to Monte Wade (St. Paul's)
and a single by Zack Mawson (Ceaser Rodney - DE), an RBI single by
clean-up hitter Shane Marvel (Sussex Tech - DE), and an RBI fielder's
choice grounder off the bat of Christian DiPaola.
The Buzz got the lead in the top of the seventh when Jesse Swanson
(Sussex Tech) singled, Joey Dorsey (Franklin) doubled, and Wade singled.
With the win, the Arsenal improved to 33-5 while the Buzz fell to same the mark.
Buzz 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 8 1
Arsenal 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 7 1
Brown, Kmiec (6), and Neary
Ripken and Green
WP- Ripken LP- Kmiec
2B-A- Rogers, B-Neary, Dorsey
3B-A-Jones