Severna Park rolls past Leonardtown4A East Region baseball title

The first out-of-county opponent for the Severna Park baseball team was no different from the previous 14.

Facing Southern Maryland Athletic Conference opponent Leonardtown after facing 14 Anne Arundel County foes, the host Falcons (15-0) beat the Raiders, 6-0, in a Class 4A East Region II final Saturday.

Jackson Merrill, a University of Kentucky commit and possible high choice in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft in July, crushed a 3-2 pitch with first base open and two on and two outs in the second inning for a three-run home run to give Falcons pitcher Nick Carparelli a comfortable advantage to work with. The senior right-hander pitched a completegame shutout, throwing 92 pitches (70% strikes), allowing seven hits, no walks while striking out four.

“Yeah, I’d pitch to me. I’d go right at me. I’m not going to get a hit every time. That’s what I want to do, but at the same time, I’m going to get out,” said Merrill. “It’s part of the game. So I wouldn’t say put me on first because you have Tucker McDonough and Luke Herz batting behind me, I just think the whole situation was a lose-lose for the pitcher.”

The latter part of that loss was apparent in the first inning, as Herz smacked the first offering from Leonardtown starting pitcher Dylan Rowe deep to left field. Hunter Lee went back to the short porch at Severna Park and reached up, but the ball went over his glove for a home run, giving the Falcons and early 1-0 lead.

In the second, senior catcher Drew Crowley opened the frame with a walk and took second on a wild pitch. Senior left fielder Daniel Key followed with a single to center, scoring Crowley. On the throw home, Key was thrown out trying to take second and the next hitter struck out. James Henson was hit by a pitch for the second straight game and Evan Stefanovich singled with Henson running on the pitch, allowing him to advance to third. Stefanovich then stole second with Merrill at the plate, as the crafty left-handed swinging shortstop worked the count full. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Rowe made the mistake that cost him further action as Merrill jumped on the juicy pitch that split the plate for an estimated 380-foot homer, giving the hosts a 5-0 advantage.

That was all Carparelli needed to get into a groove. After struggling in the first inning, throwing 26 pitches, initially getting ahead of the hitters with first-pitch strikes but then going deep into the count on three of the four hitters he faced in the opening frame.

But the righty buckled down from there on out, throwing double-digit pitches in three of the remaining six innings. He allowed two hits in both the first and third innings and then three hits in the fifth inning.

Severna Park added another run in the fifth inning when McDonough and Herz each stroked one-out singles and Crowley lofted a pop-up into no man’s land in left field. As three players converged on the ball, none of them went for it, allowing McDonough to race home with the sixth and final run of the game.

— Mike Morea

Centennial 3, Marriotts Ridge 1: Centennial’s pitcher-catcher duo, brothers Cadeyrn and Qwynn Ahearn, was solid on the mound, behind the dish and at the plate, leading the Eagles to a win over Marriotts Ridge in the 3A East Region I championship.

Cadeyrn Ahearn earned the win on the bump, allowing only one run in 5 ⅔ innings, while his brother threw out two runners stealing and smacked two RBI singles to propel Centennial to its first region title since 2008.

Centennial (12-1) will be re-seeded by regular season record along with the seven other region champions. The Eagles are expected to be the No. 1 seed and host No. 8 Damascus in the state quarterfinals on Monday.

— Jacob Calvin Meyer

Century 3, Glenelg 2:

Century coach Chris Poe said he told Kyle Grimsley the first two strikes against Gladiators pitcher Zach LaFountain were for him to make contact, and the third for his teammates. Grimsley needed only one pitch — Century’s junior shortstop guessed fastball, and sent the freshman pitcher’s offering over the fence in right field to lift the Knights to a victory.

The Class 2A West Region 1 championship game last more than 3 hours before Grimsley gave Century (9-2) a walk-off win for the ages. The Knights left 16 runners on base and threatened to end it in the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th innings prior to Grimsley’s solo shot leading off the 14th.

— Pat Stoetzer

La Plata 7, Southern 3: The Warriors scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull away and beat the Bulldogs (4-10) in the 2A South Region I championship game.

Softball

Bel Air 16, Patapsco 1: The Bobcats won the Class 3A North Region II by beating the visiting Patriots in four and a half innings.

Bobcats sophomore pitcher Kyrsten Coppage tossed no-hitter, striking out 11.

Makayla Lopez, also a sophomore, had three hits, including a two-run, inside-thepark home run. Lopez finished with four RBIs.

Alexis Luster walked twice for Patapsco and scored Patriots lone run on Coppage throwing error.

— Randall McRoberts

Leonardtown 5, South River 3:

The Seahawks (9-4) fell in the 4A East Region II championship game.

La Plata 1, Southern 0: The Bulldogs (1-11) forfeited the game, allowing the Warriors to win the Class 2A South Region I title.

Boys lacrosse

Glenelg 16, Century 6: Senior Evan Whatley outscored the Knights by himself in the Gladiators’ win in a Class 2A West Region I championship Friday. Whatley scored seven goals, including five of Glenelg’s first six scores, to lead the Gladiators to the region crown in a rematch of the 2019 2A state title game.

“He’s a special kid,” said Glenelg coach

Josh Hatmaker about Whatley. “He’s so effective at putting the ball in the back of the net. He found the advantages and the opportunities, and he’s not going to miss.”

Whatley was quick after the game to praise his teammates, and deservedly so, as the Gladiators were stout on defense, excellent on ground balls and precise with their attack.

“I was just the guy who scored the goals,” Whatley said. “Every game, we have a guy who scores a lot of goals, and tonight it was me. We’re a team. We all love each other and trust each other.”

Glenelg (8-1) will be reseeded by regular season record along with the seven other region champions. Their state playoff quarterfinal opponent is to be determined.

“I’m really proud of these kids,” Hatmaker said. “I’m very fortunate to coach here. The kids that we get are excellent. Not only are they excellent as lacrosse players but they’re excellent kids too. This was a great team effort — offense, defense, faceoffs, everything.”

— Jacob Calvin Meyer

Severna Park 6, Broadneck 5: Bruins coach Jeff McGuire and Falcons coach Travis Loving both asked for stick checks in final 45.1 seconds, but Severna Park held on to win the Class 4A East Region II title for a fifth consecutive year Friday.

The Falcons (10-0) advances to Monday’s Class 4A state quarterfinal round and will be reseeded before it’s determined who it will play. As one of five undefeated teams to reach the final eight, a coin flip will decide what seed the Falcons get before they continue their quest toward a fifth straight state title.

“It’s not something I would ever do,” Loving said of McGuire asking the refs to check Shadowens stick in the final minute, “unless someone did it to me, which is why I said, check No. 26 [Hartman], that’s their faceoff guy who didn’t faceoff the entire game. Two can play. … I’m glad they were both illegal, you know what I’m saying?

“It’s not a way to win the game, in my opinion.”