Baseball falters against Northwest

BLAZER FIELD, April 28—

Already behind by the bottom of the first, Blair was never able to complete a comeback against a tough Northwest pitching staff. The Blazers' rally in the sixth inning fell short as the varsity baseball team (5-7) lost to the Northwest Jaguars (9-3) by a score of 7-3. The loss snapped a two-game win streak, which included a 7-0 victory over a seven-win Paint Branch team.

The Jaguars got off to a quick start, scoring a run in the first inning off junior pitcher Patrick Washington. The Blazers then left two runners on base in the bottom of the inning despite the best efforts of senior co-captains Richard Griner and Tucker Canary who executed a double steal.

In the third inning, the Jaguars were able to break the game open with four runs off Washington. The Jaguars got multiple extra base hits in addition to being able to make contact and get the ball into the outfield.

The Blazer offense wasn't able to make solid contact and had many strikeouts. "We had people in scoring position but couldn't convert," head coach Eric Zolkiewicz said.

The Blazers stormed back in the sixth and were able to ignite their offense. They had the bases loaded with one out before sophomore Kyle Desiderio crushed a line drive single into the outfield to score two runs. Fellow sophomore Jack Estrin then drove in another run with a single.

But any hope of a rally was squashed when Northwest came up to bat. The Jaguars got two men on base off a hit and a walk before the runner on first was allowed to move over after an errant throw by senior catcher Robert Clingman. The Jaguars drove in two runs with a double down the right field line.

Canary attributed Blair's struggles to a coming out sluggish. "The more energy we have the better we play," he said.

With the team below .500 and the playoffs approaching, Blair must right the ship quickly if they intend to be a force in the post-season. Canary believed that the Blazers need to execute the little things. "We have to do the smaller things. It would be nice if we could work those things out," he said.

Zolkiewicz believed that it's a simple matter of staying in the games. "We just have to keep playing hard," he said. "We're much better than we were two or three weeks ago. Even this loss, we were with them."

The varsity baseball team will play its next home game against Watkins Mill at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday May 5.