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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - La Plata senior pitcher Michael Boyden felt Charles County baseball was overdue for some respect.
“It goes to show that just because we’re from Southern Maryland doesn’t mean that we can’t play,” he said after his team’s 8-2 victory over Patapsco in the 3A final. “A lot of teams Charles County schools get overlooked. It’s good to put ourselves on the map.”
But Southern Maryland’s triumph was Baltimore’s loss. The Baltimore area, which for years has produced some of the state’s best public school teams, was shutout during championship weekend at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. The area’s four teams that advanced to title games — Harford Tech in 1A, Marriotts Ridge in 2A, Patapsco in 3A and C. Milton Wright in 4A — all lost. It marked the first time the Baltimore area, composed of Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford or Howard counties failed to win a state baseball title since 1982. Since then, the area had won 48 of 100 state titles before being shutout this spring.
“I think it shows the talent of all levels of the schools in the county. We feel that Harford County baseball is on par with all the other counties,” Harford Tech interim coach Bill Jones said. “We had the whole team here [Friday] night, and it was a great experience. And we had some C. Milton Wright guys here [supporting us Saturday].”
Three teams lost in walk-off fashion, beginning with C. Milton Wright (19-5), which lost to Sherwood, 7-6, on an eighth-inning single in the 4A final on Friday.
“It was a tremendous ball game,” Mustangs coach Joe Stetka said. “Any time you go to a state championship game and go eight innings, and at one point we were three outs away from winning the thing.”
Harford Tech (16-8) lost to St. Michael’s, 4-3, on a two-out, infield single with the bases loaded in the seventh.
In a championship series set in Harford County, both local entrants lost. But the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference was the only league represented by multiple teams.
The most crushing defeat, though, may have been Kent Island’s 6-5 win over Marriotts Ridge.
The Mustangs (18-6), who lost in the semifinals but advanced to the final after South Hagerstown was disqualified from the tournament because it violated a rule that limits the number of innings a pitcher can throw in a seven-day period.
The Marriottsville school, however, could not make the most of its second chance to win its first state title.
“We were excited, we thought we were meant to win this,” Marriotts Ridge senior center fielder Kevin Seker said. “We came out [in the seventh] and we were so excited, and we walked a few batters and you could see people starting to get tense.”
swelsh@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
11:39 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 25, 2008 re: "Empty Diamonds: Baseball loses its mythic grip on area youngsters"
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4:09 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 25, 2008
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Examiner Reader said:
JJ said: little league in da district, HA! You couldnt aford the security or the bullet proof vest JJ you're an idiot!
3 agree | 1 disagree
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Rudy said:
The press can help with this situation by doing a little research and helpiong to get the word out about the oppurtunities that have long existed in the District. There are organizations out side of Little League and Ward 2, 3 and 4. Babe Ruth Baseball League has, in recent memory, been a much more competitive league than Little League. There are 12 or more clubs that play in this league from almost every ward in the city. Some of these teams play in both Little League and Babe Ruth League. There are several clubs that have a very rich tradition in baseball, Such as, The Woodridge Warriors, Takoma Rangers, #10 B&G Club and others. Most of these organizations are comunity based and don't have the budgets that NWLL may have, but still produce a great product and create a positive program for the kids.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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JJ said:
little league in da district, HA! You couldnt aford the security or the bullet proof vest.
2 agree | 3 disagree
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Rob said:
It's simply amazing how the local press and the so-called baseball experts in the District continue to ignore and refuse to acknowledge the level and quality of baseball being played by the Woodridge Warriors Youth Organization (NE DC). For over 40 years, the program under the leadership of Mason Clark, has fielded baseball teams for youth between the ages of 5 through 16. While this season may not have been one representative of past baseball seasons with our younger teams, we still have a great deal of pride in the efforts of our kids and coaches. Although it wasn't mentioned in the recent Washington Post article, Manny Burris of the San Francisco Giants played for 3 years with the Woodridge Warriors. There have been many former Warriors that have or are currently playing at the high school and college level. All we read about is the baseball that is played west of the park. These type of articles seem more intent on dismissing or trivializing the baseball efforts outside of upper NW
8 agree | 1 disagree
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Ron W. Alameda said:
If you were to listen to the Korach broadcast, and ever hear the name "Oakland", I would be shocked. They refuse to acknowledge the teams home. They dumped Oakland, so Oakland's dumped them.
3 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I had previously written to you about the insufferable A's TV play-by-play guy, Glen Kuiper. He rarely focuses upon the game itself, with his constant emphasis upon trivia ranging from uniforms to fans' signs. I suspect that is because he knows so little about the game. When fans don't attend, they usually watch the A's on TV and because of the television delay, can no longer silence Kuiper by turning to Korach on the radio. Kuiper alienates fans with his yawning trivialities and monumental ineptitude. I believe Kuiper's manifest boredom with broadcasting the A's leads to fan boredom and thus contributes to the scant attendance. Get this amateur off the air!
5 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I didn't see any "carrying" done by Lebron. I saw someone who choked and struggled AGAIN when facing REAL competition (like last year against the Spurs). Lebron played HORRIBLY in the Celtics series. Everyone thinks Lebron has carried the Cavs through the playoffs the last several years, when the fact is that all Lebron did was beat the Wizards 2 years in a row without Gilbert Arenas or Caron Butler playing, and the first year they met he made 2 game winners while traveling. If he plays in the west, he wouldn't even sniff the second round of the playoffs.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
lebron the best player in the game? what a ridiculously inane conclusion. until he masters even 2 fundamentals of the game, let alone most of the aspects of basketball that kobe has mastered, lebron is nothing but hype. no wonder this statement is relegated to "random thoughts", because there is no cogent analysis that even remotely leads to the conclusion that lebron is the best player.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I don't get it. He didn't really write this letter, but did he actually write a letter to all the GM's looking for a job?? Confusing??
9 agree | 7 disagree
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CHC Alum said:
Congratulations to the Cardinals! Now, if only they could transfer some of that talent to the football team and start winning the Turkey Bowl...
310 agree | 282 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Ryan Rivers is by far one of the best pitchers in the county,his mechanics and smoothness, will fool you.
477 agree | 321 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
how come there are no articles on calvert hall players in the area they are 32-0 they have beat carvel academy, st.johns d.c.,notre dame of virgina,and 5 teams from other states in the disney world classic. can they get some print thanks
353 agree | 330 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Jacobs is no doubt best pitcher in the state
427 agree | 355 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The score was 9-3 not 7-2 and STA also beat prep for the championship 9-1. Just cuz we didnt play St. Johns doesnt mean you can look past us.
345 agree | 364 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Albans has a good record, but who have they played? Their obvious DC competitors are St. Johns and Gonzaga. Have they played them? The premier private school is Notre Dame. Have they played them? How good is the IAC this year?
799 agree | 403 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Brady dominating on the mound. Best pitcher in state
626 agree | 399 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Good Luck to the Panthers. PVI has a great program!
406 agree | 380 disagree
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