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HAGERSTOWN -- When the baseball left Phillip Pietro's bat, it appeared North Hagerstown and Smithsburg were headed for extra innings on Monday at North.
With two out and the bases loaded, North Hagerstown's Pietro lifted a pop fly into medium left field that had Dylan Ianaro racing in and shortstop Ryne Willard moving backward.
Ianaro appeared to have caught the ball in the web of his glove before hitting the ground, but the umpire ruled Pietro safe as Ianara lost the ball while trying to show the umpire the caught ball.
Thus, North (7-2, 4-1) ruined a Smithsburg two-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game as the Hubs managed a 5-4 MVAL Antietam victory.
"The way (Ianaro) appeared to have showed the umpire the ball was the difference," said Smithsburg coach Trey Cobb. "But it wasn't just one play. We fought every play and (Aaron) Stoner threw a good game for them."
Elusive fly drops into ointment for Leopards
Smithsburg's Dylan Eyler, making his first start of the year, retired the first two Hubs in the bottom of the seventh before Stone and hot-hitting Ryan Sword followed with singles to put runners on first and third.
Freshman Andrew Yacyk was intentionally walked because Cobb preferred to face Pietro, who had an opposite-field single earlier in the game, in the situation.
Stoner was sharp early with good velocity and breaking balls before tiring in the seventh, allowing only five hits and two runs. The Leopards tied the score at 4-all on a run-scoring single by Aaron Dinterman -- knocking out Stoner -- followed by a Brandon Wiley single and a subsequent North fielding error to tie the game off reliever Justin Breeden.
"I thought (Aaron) threw with great velocity but he just got a little sore and tired at the end," said North coach Steve Myers.
Sword, who had three of North's 12 hits, drove in runs in the second and fifth innings. Jake Bachtell drove in a run in the second and Yacyk had an RBI single in the fifth.
"(Sword) has been in a little slump but is beginning to contribute," said Myers. "We've had contributions from players up and down the lineup this year."
Eight starters had hits for the Hubs. Stoner and Bachtell each had two.
"I knew we'd have pitching and defense, but we're getting results from some of the young hitters," said Myers.
Dinterman and Wiley had two hits each for the Leopards, now 4-3 overall and a surprising 2-3 in the MVAL.
"We're in a bad patch right now," said Cobb. "We gave up two runs that we shouldn't have. We're going to work on our outfielders being more aggressive."
North Hagerstown 5, Smithsburg 4
Smithsburg 001 001 2 -- 4 6 3
North 011 020 1 -- 5 12 2
Eyler and Gouff; Stoner, Breeden and Allen. WP--Breeden (1-0). LP--Eyler (2-1).
