Last regular-season game for Cards’ Eckerl a winner
A capacity crowd packed Calvert Hall’s Carlo Crispino Stadium on Tuesday for longtime baseball coach Lou Eckerl’s final regular-season game.
Red and gold balloons adorned the entrance gate with a wall of photos that celebrated the legacy of the athletic director and coach, who is retiring from both posts at the end of the school year.
The current group of players sent him out as a winner.
Jake Butler and Lamar King both hit solo home runs, powering the second-ranked Cardinals past No. 11 John Carroll, 7-6, in a key Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference battle.
“I am extremely happy we pulled this one out,” said Eckerl, 70, who has served as athletic director for 40 years and the baseball coach for 21 seasons. “It was a tough game. It was senior day and actually one of
the kids said, ‘Coach, you’re a senior now. You’re with this.’ And that’s true. This is my last team. I am with these seniors and it’s nice seeing them go out with a win.”
The victory secured a second-place finish and a first-round bye in the playoffs for the Cardinals, who finished behind No. 1 Archbishop Spalding.
Calvert Hall (20-7, 10-4 MIAA) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Butler led off with a homer and King added another solo shot two batters later off Kyle McCracken.
“He hung an offspeed [pitch], I was just sitting on it, and obviously, I took it for a big ride,” Butler said. “Lamar and I have gone back-to-back a few times. It’s just another day.”
Calvert Hall starter Steven Mufareh was effective with his offspeed pitches against John Carroll’s lefty-heavy lineup. He didn’t allow a hit until Frank Adamski managed a two-out double in the fourth. William Rhine followed with an RBI single and John Carroll trailed 2-1.
The Cardinals answered in the bottom half, loading the bases against Christopher Lanzilotta on two hit batters and a bunt single. Lanzilotta balked in the third run. Michael Copenspire hit a sacrifice fly and King knocked in another run on a fielder’s choice that boosted the lead to 5-1.
“We came together and played a great game,” King said.
The Patriots (11-10, 5-8) pulled to within 5-4 in the fifth on two-out, run-scoring singles by Matthew Archibald and Adamski, along with a bases-loaded walk by Rhine.
Calvert Hall added a run in the fifth when Butler earned a two-out bases-loaded walk off of Ben Pierce.
Griffin Shirk had an RBI single that pulled the Patriots to within 6-5 in the sixth.
John Harris gave Calvert Hall some breathing room with a run-scoring double
in the sixth that was just a few feet short of being the third home run of the game.
That proved to be key because the Patriots strung together three straight hits with two outs in the seventh and Matthew Bishop pulled them to within a run on a single to right off Ryan Perry.
Left-hander Patrick Genco entered for Calvert Hall and John Carroll’s Austin Hofmann was caught stealing home to end the game.
“We were able to put up a lot of runs with two outs and two strikes. We’re a resilient team,” John Carroll coach Darrion Siler said. “For Coach Eckerl, this was the last home game for him and a legacy that he’s left. What
a phenomenal coach and what an honor to be able to go up against him these couple of years. I’ve learned a lot from him. It was a great baseball game.”
Eckerl, who is a three-time Baltimore Sun Coach of the Year, has led the program for 23 years and has accumulated 486 wins, making him the winningest baseball coach in Calvert Hall history. He’s coached 185 players who have gone on to play in college and 17 who have played professionally.
His teams have played in the MIAA championship game 15 times, winning eight titles. He is still playing for one more.
“I’m hoping we can put this together. We’re right there,” Eckerl said.
“It was a tough game. It was senior day and actually one of the kids said, ‘Coach, you’re a senior now. You’re with this.’ And that’s true. This is my last team. I am with these seniors and it’s nice seeing them go out with a win.” — Lou Eckerl, Calvert Hall baseball coach