By Kyle Wannen
For DigitalSports.com
After hitting Linganore’s leadoff hitter and then walking the next batter, Quince Orchard pitcher Brett Sliwiak gave him team a lift by retiring the next three batters and escaping the first inning unscathed.
His teammates responded by driving in three runs in the first inning to take an early lead and the Cougars (17-2) held on for a 7-1 victory in the state semifinal game Tuesday.
“We were a little worried but our defense has played well and he came back and made some pitches, got us out of that,” Cougars coach Jason Gasaway said. “We got fired up and got three runs early.”
Center fielder Anthony Howard got things started for Quince Orchard when he drove home catcher Peter Bowles with a double in the first. Howard was a hitting machine as he went 4-4 with two RBIs and a run scored to lead his team.
“The only thing I was thinking of was getting on base, getting to score early,” Howard said. “Usually if we don’t score early, we start putting our heads down. My thing was to step up, be a leader, get on base and have everyone follow behind.”
“He did okay for us the first two years and we were just waiting for him to kind of explode and that’s what he’s done this year,” Gasaway said. “He’s tearing the cover off the ball.”
Howard’s hit was followed bya RBI groundout from right fielder Tommy McCartin and a RBI single by third baseman Greg Price.
The 3-0 lead was sufficient for Sliwiak, who battled back this season after an early finger injury. Sliwiak went five innings and only gave up one run while striking out two batters.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Sliwiak said. “I haven’t pitched all season basically. I came back and pitched a **** of a game.”
“He hurt his finger early and that kind of set him back a little,” Gasaway said. “So now he’s kind of stepping back into things and he pitched really well today.”
In the fifth inning, left fielder Danny Mars scored on a perfectly placed ******* squeeze bunt by McCartin. Then in the seventh, Bowles hit a 2-RBI single and then scored on a RBI single by Howard to increase the lead to 7-1. Reliever Jake Chavis pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the Cougars. The defense also stepped up late for Quince Orchard as second baseman Frank Barkanic made a diving stop to save a run in the fifth and Price made a slick double play on a line drive in the sixth.
The Lancers (15-3) scored their only run in the third inning when center fielder Alex Anwar led off with a double and then scored on a RBI single by first baseman Taylor Henry. Despite having opportunities late in the game, Linganore could not push any more runs across.
“That’s baseball, sometimes it’s a funny thing,” Bulldogs coach Chris O’Conner said. “We hit the ball hard, they had a couple bloops that fell and then they hit the ball hard a couple times too but what can you do.”
The win helped Quince Orchard advance to the state championship against Severna Park where No. 1 pitcher Mike Ryan will take the mound for the Cougars.
“We’ll have Mike Ryan on the mound,” Gasaway said. “I know they’re going to have their No. 1 and they look very good. We just got to come out there and play like we did today. We go to work and we’ll be okay.”
Howard and Sliwiak had more confident outlooks on the upcoming championship.
“I always wanted a run and something’s going to happen real soon,” Howard said.
“I think Mike Ryan is going to pitch a **** of a game and win it for us,” Sliwiak said.
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