Big Hits

Suns win season-ending game By BOB PARASILITI / Staff Writer All Alvin Morrow wanted to do was wipe the smile off of Eji Miyamoto's face. With one swing, not only changed Miyamoto's disposition, Morrow changed the complexion of the game while putting a grin on his face, the face of his mother, fans and teammates. continued Morrow's "excuse me" home run to right in the fourth inning stood up behind the combined six-hit effort of pitchers Tyler Houston and Josh Stevens Sunday as the Hagerstown Suns closed the 2000 season with a 1-0 victory over the Cape Fear Crocs at Municipal Stadium.

There was one good thing about Saturday night's game for the Hagerstown Suns. It was followed by today's off day. It's about what the Suns need after two errors and a mental mistake imploded into an 8-2 loss to Delmarva at Municipal Stadium, allowing the Shorebirds to complete a four-game sweep and send Hagerstown to its fifth straight loss. "It's all about making plays and in the last five games, we haven't done that," said Suns manager Darnell Coles. "We had been going pretty good until the last game at Kannapolis.

Nick Arata approaches hitting a baseball as if it were a relay race. "Basically, you want to pass the bat on to the next guy," said the Hagerstown Suns infielder. "It there is a guy in scoring position, you want to get him in. If there is a guy on base, you want to move him up. You want to make it as easy as possible for the next guy. " Like most good hitters -- and lead relay runners -- Arata made his passes with the lead on Sunday. Arata had three hits and drove in four runs, including the game-winner with an eighth-inning single -- to lift the Suns to a 5-4 win over Lakewood at Municipal Stadium.

koelble@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - For the second straight game, Greencastle ominously fell behind an opponent. Thursday, the Blue Devils fell behind 8-1 to James Buchanan, rallied for a 9-8 lead and eventually lost, 10-9. Friday, it almost became deja vu as Greencastle was being throttled by Chambersburg 10-1 through four innings and facing the possibility of a 10-run-rule loss. Shockingly, back-to-back six-run innings in the fifth and sixth frames fueled No. 7 Greencastle (12-6)

WILLIAMSPORT - Forgive Hancock Little League manager Dennis Douglas if he seems a little tense these days. His team played another close game Thursday, defeating Conococheague 9-7 in the losers' bracket semifinals of the Maryland District 1 11-12 All-Star Tournament at Ebersole Field. "They've been doing this to me a lot," said Douglas. "We've played some tight two-run games, but we've held them off. " Conococheague loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Vinnie Foreman struck out Aaron Taylor to end the game.

kauffman@herald-mail.com GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Greencastle-Antrim baseball coach Chris Sellers can't take much more of this. After an excrutiating 4-3 loss to Bermudian Springs in a Class AA Mid Penn playoff game Thursday - the Blue Devils' fifth straight loss after a blazing 13-2 start - a frustrated Sellers kept talking about his team's lack of clutch hits. "We can not put hits together in crucial situations, and when you don't put hits together in crucial situations, you lose," Sellers said matter-of-factly.

Just call Tyler Byers “Mo.” Williamsport's pitcher took the mound at Municipal Stadium on Friday night and gave the Wildcats all the inspiration they needed to post an 8-5 MVAL Antietam victory over South Hagerstown. “Today, we played about as complete a game as we have played all year,” said Williamsport coach David Warrenfeltz. “We pitched well, got big hits and played good defense. Tyler pitched a great game. When a pitcher goes out there and does that, it gets you going.” Byers lasted into the sixth inning until he got into trouble after being hit on the left ankle on a liner by South's Colby Johnson.

koelble@herald-mail.com BOONSBORO - The Boonsboro baseball team received a few early presents from Southern Garrett on Monday afternoon and the Warriors had no problem unwrapping them and enjoying what they saw. Southern ace Chris Smith gave up five walks in the first inning and the Warriors ripped the game open with three key hits on their way to a 6-2 win over the top-seeded Rams in the Class 1A West quarterfinals. Boonsboro coach Brian Smith decided on lefthander Craig Henson as his starter against seven left-handed bats in Southern's lineup and the senior responded, just as he did two years ago when he pitched the state championship game during the Warriors' run to the 1A title.

photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer enlarge By BOB PARASILITI / Staff Writer Vernon Wells did it all for the Hagerstown Suns on Thursday. He got key hits. He made pivotal defensive plays. But most of all, he cured the Suns of amnesia. Hagerstown's center fielder jolted his team's memory with five hits, two RBIs and three defensive gems to lift the Suns to a 2-1 and 6-1 doubleheader sweep of the Charleston Alley Cats to end an eight-game losing streak.

It's been a season of firsts for Waynesboro's softball team, and another one will happen Monday. The Maidens (23-3) -- who already have earned the first Mid-Penn Conference title and first trip to the PIAA District 3-AAAA championship game in school history this season -- will play their first-ever state tournament game against Delaware Valley at Mid Valley High School in Throop, Pa., at 4 p.m. "It has been just a great season, and for...