Blog

Loyola Blakefield’s baseball was hitting the ball well from the start at Mount Saint Joseph on Monday, but the Dons still found themselves in a tight, low-scoring game in the late innings.

First baseman Joe Nottingham made sure that changed.

After leading off the sixth with a single and then scoring the go-ahead run, the junior capped the Dons’ quality on the road with a two-run home run in the seventh.

Loyola Blakefield got a strong pitch from lefties Dylan Bryan and Wyatt Mummert and had 11 hits in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A conference opener with a 4-1 win over the Gaels.

The Dons improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Gaels, who got a terrific pitching performance from second-year starter Collin Park, fell to 2-3 overall.

( High School Sports Roundup (March 27) )

Bryan went five innings, allowing one run on five hits and 11 strikeouts to earn the win. Mummert pitched two no-hitter innings to earn the save. Batting seventh in the Dons order, Nottingham went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and the game-winning run.

With two outs and one in the top of the seventh, he sent a pitch over the fence in left center field to give the Dons a comfortable cushion with Mummert ready to face the top of the Gaels’ order in the bottom of the frame. .

“I wasn’t trying to dig deep. He was just trying to get the ball up the middle and do something good to help the team and he came out. It just feels good,” she said.

Mummert had a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out Mason Nemec to seal the win. With the Dons having three games this week to start the season (Monday’s game was rescheduled from Friday), Loyola coach Mike Kelly supported his two senior pitchers to keep the team going.

“Most teams don’t have two lefties like that and they came in and did a great job. I couldn’t ask for anything more from them,” she said.

Pitching five challenging innings, Park allowed just one run when Dons third baseman Zach Stolze led off the second inning with a home run to the opposite field over the right fence. Park left the game after five innings with the score tied at 1, allowing seven hits as the Dons stranded five baserunners.

With reliever Brayden Spurgeon coming for the Gaels to start the sixth, Nottingham led off with a single and then Derek Seiss’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed to put two runners up. After Brett Hansen walked to load the bases, Nottingham scored on Leo Foust’s sacrifice fly to center field.

Extending their lead in the seventh inning, the Dons got a leadoff single from catcher Jake Hauk and then Nottingham’s crucial home run with two outs. Leaning on his curveball and changeup, Bryan was able to get big outs when called upon to give the Dons a chance to win the game late.

The Gaels tied the game at 1 in the third when Keegan Plummer led off with a double and scored on Nemec’s one-out double. But Bryan bailed out in the fourth and fifth innings before giving way to Mummert.

“We’ll just go out and do our thing and we’ve played well up to this point,” Bryan said. “It always feels good when the offense has your back. But I also like being in difficult situations because it gets me going a bit.”

Shortstop Trent Waire went 3 for 4 with a double and Seiss had two singles. Plummer, Nemec and Park each had a double and a single for the Gaels.

“Tough game,” Mount Saint Joseph coach Phil Kraska said. “Collin pitched a great game and he deserved to win today and we couldn’t do that for him today so that’s the most frustrating part.”

Both teams return to action on Wednesday afternoon with away games. Mount Saint Joseph travels to Archbishop Curley for a 4 p.m. game, while Loyola heads to St. Mary’s at 4:30 p.m.

LB 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 — 4 11 0

MSJ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 6 2

Bryan, Mummert (6) and Hauk; Park, Spurgeon (6) and Bieda, Rybinski

2B: LB: Waire, Nottingham; MSJ—Plummer Park

HOUR: LB—Nottingham