For the Hopkins baseball team, a busy schedule has become customary.
“The season has been crazy with the number of games we’ve played in such a short period of time,” sophomore pitcher Colin Friedman said. “Overall, I think our team has done a tremendous job of handling the stress.”
In a stretch of the season in which the mighty Jays are playing 26 games over a 30-day period, the boys in blue started off the weekend with a home game against the Gettysburg Bullets. Pitching was the name of the game on Friday afternoon as sophomore starting pitcher Carter Burns earned his fourth win of the season, pitching seven scoreless innings. Burns scattered three hits, walked three, and struck out five to get a well-deserved victory on the day.
“Carter was dominant on the mound,” Friedman said. “He continues to do a great job in every game he pitches.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the Blues Jays were quiet throughout the initial innings of the game. In fact, both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense as neither pitcher gave up more than a single throughout the first four innings of the game. Gettysburg nearly took the lead early in the game when the leadoff hitter walked to begin the first inning. After two strikeouts by Burns, the cleanup hitter Nate Simon lined a single into right field. As the leadoff man rounded third base, sophomore Kyle Gillen relayed a dart from second base to senior catcher Jonathan Hettleman to tag the runner at home, allowing the Jays to narrowly avoid an early deficit.
As the pitchers continued to dominate, the game remained scoreless heading into the bottom half of the fifth inning. Freshman Conor Reynolds led off the inning with a single down the left field line, giving the Jays their first man on base in two innings.
As senior Richie Carbone stepped up to the plate, he was determined to get the Blue Jays on the board.
It was a swing that would be the difference in the game as Carbone made contact with the ball, sending the ball over the left field wall directly off the foul pole to give the Jays a 2-0 advantage. The home run was Carbone’s first as a Blue Jay.
“Carbone’s home run was a game-changer,” Friedman said. “He’s done a magnificent job leading the team this year and his clutch home run was the difference in the game.”
This was the only offense generated by both teams for the rest of the game. Burns only allowed one additional hit in the sixth and seventh innings before head coach Bob Babb called in senior closer Zach Augustine to pitch the eighth and ninth. Augustine performed admirably in the eighth as he forced the Bullets to ground into a double play and leave a man on base to end the inning. After striking out his first batter in the ninth, Augustine surrendered a walk before an error in the field, giving the Bullets two men on base with only one out. With Gettysburg primed to score, Augustine forced a lineout and a pop fly, securing the victory for the Jays and earning his second save of the season.
The win gave the Blue Jays their fourth conference win of the season and snapped a 23 game winning streak for the Bullets.
“It was great to pickup a win and end Gettysburg’s winning streak,” Friedman said. “A loss in this game would have almost ended our chances of earning a spot in the conference tournament.”
While the Blue Jays savored the victory against the Bullets for the night, the boys went immediately back to work on Saturday morning when they traveled to Collegeville, Pa. to take Ursinus in a doubleheader.
The first game of the day proved to be a heartbreaker for the Jays, as Ursinus capped off a four-run rally in the bottom of the tenth inning to top Hopkins 7-6. The winning run walked in from third base after a pitch hit by the batter at the plate. Hopkins was unable to keep up the momentum after gaining a 6-3 advantage in the top of the eighth inning.
Friedman commented on the small mistakes that the team is working on correcting for upcoming games.
“I feel like so many of our close losses this year have been a product of us beating ourselves,” he said. “I think if we eliminate these mental errors, we will find a way to be successful. I am confident in our team and our ability to get the job done.”
While the first game proved to be a tough one to swallow, the Blue Jays came back for the second game of the doubleheader with a reinvigorated spirit. The offense erupted for 15 hits and 13 runs batted in as the Blue Jays crushed the Bears by a final score of 14-3. Leading the way for the Jays was junior Craig Hoelzer, who finished the game 4 for 5, notching four singles and four runs scored. Senior Mike Denlinger was also stellar as he smacked one single and two doubles while scoring twice and batting in four runs. Sophomore Trevor Williams was fantastic on the mound, striking out eight batters while allowing only one run through eight innings of work.
Despite their troubles at the plate in the previous two games, the Jays bested the Bear’s pitching staff early and often, as the team scored five runs in the first inning. Denlinger and sophomore Raul Shah led the way, driving in two runs respectively in the first frame to give the Jays an early advantage.
By the end of the fourth inning, the Jays led 8-0 and Williams efficiently sent down Ursinus batters in order.
Senior right-hander Ed Bryner came in to close out the game for the Jays, striking out the final batter of the game to secure a 14-3 victory.
Having played three games in two days, the Blue Jays had a small break on Sunday before hitting the road again to take on the York Spartans on Monday afternoon. For the second time in three games, the Blue Jays fate was decided in extra innings. After taking the lead in the top of the tenth when an RBI single from Carbone brought freshman Tommy Mee in from second base, the Jays clung to a 5-4 lead.
However, errors came back to bite Hopkins as a error in the field followed by two consecutive singles loaded the bases for the Spartans in the bottom of the tenth. Sophomore pitcher Ross Lazicky notched a strikeout and a groundout to get two outs, but his valiant effort was not enough to keep the Jays ahead. Senior Brad Wenzel played the role of hero for the Spartans as he cracked a single into centerfield that scored two runs and secured a 6-5 victory for York.
“We have to continue to be resilient and work hard deep into games,” Friedman said. “This resiliency will be key down the road for the team.”
Friedman pitched a very effective game for the Jays, going eight and two-thirds innings, while allowing four earned runs and striking out three.
The two teams matched up very evenly throughout the course of the game as neither squad could build a substantial lead. Reynolds played another strong game for the Jays, going 2 for 4 on the day while scoring twice and driving in one run. Junior first baseman Jake Rogers also hit with a lot of power, notching two hits and one run scored. Freshman Ryan Orgielewicz also performed well under pressure as he struck a double down the left field line to score two runs for the Jays. In the end, the offensive success of the team was not enough as the Spartans capitalized on timely errors by the Jays.
The boys will return to the field on Friday when they take on Washington College in Chesterdown, MD. The game is set to start at 3:30pm and will have significant impact on the Jay’s chances at making the Centennial Conference tournament.
“The motto our team adopted at the beginning of the season is ‘All In’,” Friedman said. “We have done a great job coming together as a team. Now, the next four conference games are must-wins and I believe that we will find a way to be successful down the stretch.”
