Titans oust Rebels

HAGERSTOWN — Perhaps Friday the 13th was a fitting day for South Hagerstown’s baseball season to come to an end.

“It was a strange season, there is no doubt about it,” South coach Ralph Stottlemyer said. “With the weather the way that it was, we were never able to get involved in any kind of rhythm.”

The Rebels lost 5-1 to the visiting Tuscarora Titans on Friday in the first round of the Maryland Class 3A West playoffs, finishing the season with a 6-12 record.

Tuscarora (9-11) will play at third-seeded Linganore (9-6) on Monday in the quarterfinals.

Tuscarora’s Nick Baker (5-1) shut the Rebels down, pitching a four-hitter with eight strikeouts for the victory.

“It was a great job of pitching,” Stottlemyer said. “The kid kept us off balance. They say good pitching beats good hitting. That was the lowest-scoring ballgame that we have been involved in all year. It was one of those days where we hit the ball right at somebody.”

Tuscarora got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the top of the second inning. Nate Puryear reached on an infield error. Zack Woodward followed with a double into the gap in right-center to drive in Puryear. One out later, Woodward came home all the way from second base when Matt Clemons reached on a two-base throwing error.

The Rebels committed all four of their errors in the first three innings.

Tuscarora extended its lead to 3-0 in the sixth. Randy Baugher led off with a single to center, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a single to left by C.J. Winpigler and scored on a groundout to first by Puryear.

The Titans added two more runs in the top of the seventh to increase their advantage to 5-0. With one out, Blake Smith drew a walk. One out later, Matt Remsburg singled to right to advance the runner to third. Remsburg went to second on the throw to third base, and then Baugher came through with a two-run single to right.

Baugher and Winpigler had two hits each for Tuscarora.

The Rebels scored their only run in the bottom of the seventh. Trevor Haupt was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single to right by Riley Stephenson. One out later, Brandon Hess doubled to center to score Haupt.

Stephenson had two of the Rebels’ four hits. He also pitched all seven innings, allowing just three earned runs, while throwing only 68 pitches.

Tuscarora 5, South Hagerstown 1
Tuscarora    020    001    2    —    5    7    1
S. Hagerstown    000    000    1    —    1    4    4
Baker and Smith. Stephenson and Haupt. WP — Baker (5-1). LP — Stephenson.