Hubs come out swinging vs. Cougars

April 26, 2005|by JACK HILL III/Staff Correspondent

Every batter in the starting lineup had at least one hit Monday for the No. 7 North Hagerstown baseball team, which scored at least two runs in every inning en route to a 21-12 victory over Catoctin in the MVAL Antietam.

"We came out and swung the bats real well today," North Hagerstown coach Shawn Reynolds said. "We have a pretty good hitting ball club, no matter who we put out there."

Matt Ridenour and Brent Toms banged out three hits each for North Hagerstown (10-4, 8-2). Ridenour also had four RBI and one run scored, while Toms had two RBI. Leadoff batter Fred Kreiger finished with four RBI and three runs scored, while Justin Weaver slugged a three-run homer and scored three runs and Jimmy Connor and Chris Grove scored four runs each for the Hubs.

North starting pitcher Brian Barnhart fanned five in 4 1/3 innings and picked up the win.

"I knew coming into the year that we were going to score a lot of runs," Reynolds said. "It was just a matter of whether we were going to get pitching for ourselves. Our pitching has surprised me a little bit this year. We are throwing the ball a little bit better than I expected. You have to give Catoctin credit. They battled back."

Tony Hall had two RBI, two runs scored and two hits for Catoctin (8-6, 6-4). J.J. Daglianete added two RBI and two runs scored, while Jake Yocum hit a three-run double and scored a run for the Cougars.

"I was proud of our kids," Catoctin coach Mike Franklin said. "Our kids battled back. Hitting was a weak point early. But then we put the ball in play in the middle of the game. That's what I love the best about these guys. They are not going to quit. We lost to a good team. They are one of the greater hitting teams in this area. Those guys can just flat out score. The 21-12 score says it all."

The Hubs drew seven of their 13 walks in the first two innings and forced Catoctin starting pitcher Jake Yocum to throw 72 pitches during that span. By the end of the third inning, the Hubs had built a 9-2 lead.

The Cougars got four runs in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 9-6. But the Hubs answered back with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to widen the gap to 16-6.

The Cougars still refused to quit as they plated six runs in the top of the fifth to chop the lead down to 16-12. However, the Hubs responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and two runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 21-12.

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