By Colin Murphy
The Chesapeake High School baseball team extended its winning streak to nine games with a convincing 7-2 victory over Northeast High School at the Eagles home field on Friday, April 15. Dominant starting pitching was key for the Cougars (9-1), as junior Brandon Pyle pitched a complete game, coming within one out of recording the third no-hitter in school history.
Following an opening day loss to Southern, the Cougars have ascended to fourth in the Baltimore Sun rankings with an always-changing winning formula. Every day we win a different way Were getting contributions from everyone on the team, said Chesapeake Head Coach Ken King. Against Northeast it was Brandon, but there are no consistent standouts. Were just playing really well right now, he added.
The winning formula against Northeast began with discipline at the plate, as Chesapeake batters drew two first-inning walks against junior starter Jon Powell, eventually pushing leadoff-hitting junior Jake Rich across to take a 1-0 lead. Rich finished the day with two walks and two runs scored, as five Chesapeake batters drew at least one walk.
Northeast (6-3) made matters harder on themselves by committing five errors on the day. When youre putting guys on base, you cant make mistakes, and we made too many [mistakes] today, said Northeast Head Coach Adam Bolling. We were playing from behind and Chesapeake is a good team, so we couldnt afford those mistakes.
Pushing the lead to 2-0 on the strength of an RBI single by senior Zach Weiss, Chesapeake increased it to four in the top of the fifth on the strength of two bases-loaded walks. Then, with an energized Cougars bench providing a constant stream of rowdy chatter, Pyle belted a two-run single to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead.
We had eight singles today, and only [Weiss] had more than one hit, said King of his teams disciplined and well-rounded effort at the plate. We have a lot of unselfish guys. Our 2-3-4 hitters took walks with guys in scoring position. Usually young guys are over-aggressive in those situations, but these guys are happy to let the next guy do it.
With his team giving him an early lead, Pyle took charge on the mound and was the games standout performer. The Chesapeake right-hander did not allow a base runner until the bottom of the seventh, when he issued a walk, thereby surrendering the perfect game. The no-hitter was still intact with two outs in the inning, but base hits by Northeasts Nick Mohn and Eric Grantland and a Chesapeake error allowed two runs to cross the plate. Pyle regrouped to record the final out, finishing the game with nine strikeouts and only one walk.
For their part, Northeast remains confident they can rebound and contend for a championship. Were kind of night and day, up and down right now, said Bolling. Weve got to work on making adjustments at the plate, not lunging and hitting pop-ups. When were firing on all cylinders, were capable of playing well and beating anybody, and thats where we want to be come playoff time, he concluded.
Chesapeake, meanwhile, seems to have a winning formula they plan to keep using as the team approaches the playoffs. Everyones contributing, these guys are unselfish and its keeping our spirits up, said King of his team. Theyre not worried about doing well individually. They just want to win.
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