Boys Baseball

At their last regular season home game on May 6, River Hill lost another close game to Mt. Hebron, 4-3. Although this loss to the County's top-ranked team was very disappointing to say the least, some good things came out of it that, hopefully, will help the Hawks in the playoffs.

First of all, the pitching was strong in this game. Starter Steve Cornelius, who went 5 good innings, and Ben Trapuzzano, who threw the sixth and seventh, gave up only 6 hits. That should be good enough to win just about every game. In the third inning, a hit batter, followed by two walks loaded the bases. A triple by Mt. Hebron pitcher, John Zabel, then put River Hill in a hole. The only other Viking run came in the sixth with a single, with the runner advancing to second on a ground ball out. Then a dribbler through the infield scored the runner. A very nice Hawk defensive play in the seventh shut down another possible Mt. Hebron rally. Nick Hoffner hit a line drive into left field, tried to stretch it to a double, and was cut down by a great throw from Jeff Marquart to Bryan Bednarczyk at second. Cornelius and Trapuzzano combined for 6 strike outs, while giving up a mere two walks--again good enough to win most games.

The other encouraging thing is that the Hawks can hit one of the County's best pitchers, and could do even better if given another chance. In the fourth, when River Hill touched Zabel for 3 runs, Wes McCoy singled with two outs. Bryan Bednarczyk then singled and Steve Cornelius reached fist on an infield error. Dave Marquart's single scored 2 and moved Cornelius to third. Dave then faked a steal toward second, drew a throw and was able to remain in a run-down until Steve scored.

The Hawks rallied in the sixth, again with 2 outs, when Wes McCoy was hit by a pitch, followed by back to back singles by Bryan Bednarczyk and Steve Cornelius. With Justin Bilohlavek batting for Dave Marquart, Zabel threw a wild pitch, but Wes was tagged out at the plate. In the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks suffered one final unusual and disappointing call. Dave Marquart reached first on an infield error. Then, with one out, Jeff Marquart was called out at the plate by the umpire, who claimed Jeff stepped on home plate, interfering with the catcher's ability to throw to second in a failed attempt to catch Dave stealing. So, instead of Dave safely on second and Jeff at the plate with one out, Jeff was called out and Dave sent back to first.

The Hawks showed they can play with any team and can come back against a good team. With continued good pitching and an expected return to better hitting, the Hawks can build on what they did in this game just in time for the playoffs.