From the HCC sports desk:
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford baseball team held Delaware County scoreless until the final inning, downing the Phantoms (0-1), 14-3, in a truncated, seven-inning, game on Wednesday afternoon at Harford Baseball Field.
The game was originally scheduled for Mar. 3, but was postponed due to the effects of the February snowstorms. Wednesday’s game was also the Fighting Owls’ (6-3) home-opener because of other postponements.
Sophomore Joe Harbach (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) led Harford at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and three RBI, while sophomore Chris Peacher (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) (1-0) earned his first win by pitching five scoreless innings and giving up just two hits while striking out four batters.
AD Dunn was the only Phantom player to record multiple hits, as he went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, while Brian Bayliss (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits in three innings of work.
Harford wasted no time to get on the board, scoring three runs in the first off sophomore Mike Maxwell’s (Salem, N.J./Woodstown) groundout RBI, freshman Christian Wolfe’s (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) RBI single and sophomore Mike Krider’s (State College, Pa./State College) RBI single.
After Peacher held Delaware County scoreless in the top of the second, Harbach tallied the eventual game-winning hit, with a single that plated sophomore Willie Barnola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/UEC J.G. Bastidas). Sophomore Woody Wlodarczyk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) added a groundout RBI and Maxwell tacked on an RBI single to give Harford a 6-0 lead going into the third.
The Owls tallied one run in the third off Barnola’s RBI single and a two-run RBI single from Harbach in the fifth would put Harford within one run of the 10-run mercy rule. The Owls would add five more to complete a six-run fifth inning and take a 13-0 lead, needing only to sustain a 10-run advantage after the top of the seventh to earn the victory.
Harford would add its last run in the sixth and the Phantoms would finally get on the board thanks to sacrifice fly by Travis Wramble, who also reached base on a Harford error, and Delaware County would score two more runs, both unearned, on Chip Scherer’s two-run RBI single before the Owls got out of the inning and sealed the 14-3 win.
The Fighting Owls return to action on Thursday as they travel to CCBC-Catonsville for a 3:00 p.m. game, before returning home this weekend to host Salem (Mar. 13) and Massachusetts Bay (Mar. 14) in doubleheaders.
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