HANOVER — Fort Cumberland Post 13 put the pressure on in the sixth inning, and St. Mary’s wilted.
Fort Cumberland, which was slow to adjust to a wide strike zone, had struck out looking five times to that point. Its hitters finally expanded in the sixth and put the ball in play, and St. Mary’s responded with six errors — three on ground balls, two on throws and one on a dropped fly ball.
The go-ahead score crossed when Kohen Madden dove ahead of a tag after a Myles Bascelli fly ball was dropped in center field during the four-run frame, and Bryson Krumpach came up with a six-out save to secure the win.
Madden added a long ball in the seventh inning, Liam Buck threw five strong innings on the mound and Fort Cumberland stayed alive, defeating St. Mary’s Post 255, 7-3, for a second elimination-game victory in as many days on Day 3 of the Maryland American Legion state tournament on Sunday at Joe Cannon Stadium.
“We had to grind it out,” Fort Cumberland skipper Brian McAlpine said. “We were watching a lot of third strikes today. After the first time through, they understood the zone a little better, started chipping a little bit, staying in the game.
“Then we opened it up and got a few runs there with hustle. Their fielding was a little off, but we hit the ball hard and ran the bases extremely well. We had a couple of really nice slides.”
Fort Cumberland (13-6) plays another must-win game against Sharptown Post 218 on Monday at 10 a.m.
After getting shut out through four innings, Post 13 took their first lead in the fifth following a Coye Resh RBI single and a wild pitch that plated Krumpach made it a 2-1 game.
St. Mary’s took advantage of a fortunate infield single and a throwing error to regain its edge at 3-2 through five frames, but it proved to be short-lived.
All four Fort Cumberland runs in the sixth were unearned, but they were anything but, as Post 13 hustled to take extra bases and force errant throws.
Fort Cumberland’s final score, however, featured a leisurely jog around the bases after Madden sent a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a no-doubt home run in the seveth inning.
It has been a struggle at the plate for Madden at states by his standards, but Fort Cumberland hopes that came to an end with one swing.
“I just knew my pitch would come, and I just drove it where I could,” he said. “I know my team relies on me. We all rely on each other. It’s nice to help them out finally.”
Madden and Carver Robeson scored two Post 13 runs each, Coye Resh drove in two, and Colt Resh, Bascelli and Krumpach all crossed home.
Fort Cumberland gave the ball to Buck to start Sunday, and the young right-hander delivered five strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts to two walks.
Buck finished with 80 pitches, so he’s done for the tournament, but his bulldog performance spared Fort Cumberland’s top-end arms with Post 13 still three wins away from the title.
“I was trying to throw the cutter for a strike, just get it away from the hitters so they’d swing and miss,” Buck said. “When the fastball was down in the zone, it looked good. When it got up, that’s when I was even counts and that’s when the runs scored.”
Owen Zartman and Riley Whitney (Allegany College commit) led the St. Mary’s lineup with two singles each. Whitney and Emmett Zartman — whose ground ball to the left side with two outs in the second inning took a high hop and scored the game’s first run — tallied RBIs.
Owen Zartman was dealt the loss, though none of his four runs in two innings of relief were earned.
Nick Hevner, a Great Mills graduate who just completed his first year playing for the College of Southern Maryland, received a no-decision after the right-hander gave up two runs on three hits in four innings, fanning five and walking one.
Madden, Buck and Krumpach (Allegany College) are the lone Fort Cumberland pitchers unavailable for Monday, though Krumpach could return Tuesday after expending just 27 pitches across two no-hit frames Sunday.
Bascelli and Colt and Coye Resh are the probable starting options with Brady Moran (Allegany College), who tossed 3 1/3 shutout frames Saturday against Cecil County, eligible to return after one-day’s rest.
“(Buck) promised me he’d be ready last night, and he delivered,” McAlpine said. “So we’ve still got a pretty good stable of horses.”
