Hornets sting baseball

DAMASCUS HIGH SCHOOL, MAY 12-

The Blair baseball team was dominated by Damascus today, eliminating them in the first round of the playoffs, following an unfortunate 7-10 record in the regular season. Blair allowed a seven run Hornet second inning and a five run third while the Blazer bats remained silent, producing only three singles. The game was halted after four and a half innings because of Montgomery County's mercy rule.

The Blazers had won three out of their last four games coming into today's game, including key victories against Rockville and Churchill. Also, because this game came only five days after a 7-0 Blazer victory against this same 11-3 Damascus squad, it came as a shock for the Blazers to receive their worst loss of the season against a team that they had proven was beatable.

In the first inning, junior pitcher Grant Staking, who started the game, allowed the bases to be loaded with one out until a textbook 5-4-3 double play ended the threat. Unfortunately, he couldn't get out of another jam unscathed in the second inning, in which the Hornets recorded seven runs off of seven hits, including two off-the-wall doubles.

Junior pitcher Jonas Wilson replaced Staking and was also unsuccessful. Three out of the five runs that he allowed in the third inning came off of a menacing home run blast.

The Blazers couldn't muster much offensive production, as they struck out six times and didn't have a base runner in both the second and fourth innings. The team's only run occurred when junior outfielder Tom Foley singled home junior outfielder Raymond Anderson, who reached base on a single, in the third inning. Freshman Tommy Dugan's single and senior Josh Richardson's HBP produced the only other two Blazer base runners.

The season started off well, as Blair had an early 3-1 record before losing eight out of its next nine games, mostly in very close contests. The team's most successful outing came on Apr. 2 against Kennedy, in which they trounced the Cavaliers 33-1. Although the Blazers finished four games below .500, they outscored their opponents by 25 runs.

Richardson believes that the team had a positive season but will be even better next season, "It was a good season because everyone improved as a player. It's a shame it had to end like that. They are going to be a good team next year," he said.