Playoff Baseball: Chesapeake Defeats Northeast 8-5 To Advance

This article will appear with additional exclusive photos in the May 16 print issue of the Pasadena Voice.

Whatever the sport, you can toss the records aside when it’s Chesapeake vs. Northeast.

Even more so when it’s the playoffs.

The intensity of the Pasadena rivalry held true on Saturday when the upset-minded Eagles visited the Cougars for a 3A East Section II semifinal. Chesapeake needed a strong offensive outing and a key pitching change to withstand a valiant effort from Northeast and advance past the Eagles 8-5.

Chesapeake’s Colby Buckheit came on in relief of Joe Seidler to pitch four innings, allowing only one hit and no earned runs while striking out four and throwing first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 17 batters he faced to earn the save and seal a win for Seidler.

The Cougars’ Colton Spangler was 3 for 3 with a walk and three runs scored as the Cougars twice battled from early deficits, put together runs against standout Northeast lefty starter Tyler Green and overcame defensive and base-running miscues to come away with the victory.

“This crosstown rivalry, these kids have known each other for 10, 12 years, and unfortunately [records] don’t matter when these two teams play,” said Chesapeake head coach Ken King. “I feel like we were the better team this year, and we beat them three times, but we didn’t really beat them handily. We got by them twice.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Chesapeake vs. Northeast baseball, 3A East playoffs, 5.12.18

Chesapeake did enough to get by Northeast on Saturday. It was the Eagles who came out strong, immediately getting to Seidler in the top of the first inning. Northeast’s AJ Moya singled and advanced to second on an errant throw to first, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an RBI base hit by Kenny Miller. Miller stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, then was driven in on a base hit by Eric Walters. Northeast led 2-0 right away.

The Cougars responded in the bottom half of the inning. Seidler ripped a double off the wall in left center, moved to third on Jake Hynson’s bunt single and later scored on a passed ball. Hynson scored on a bunt by Dylan Young when Northeast tried to get Spangler, who had walked, out at second, but the throw went awry. Spangler eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Mike Cybert, and Chesapeake led 3-2.

Northeast kept its offense going in the second. Duncan Katzenberger walked, Braiden Ryan bunted for a hit, and Moya batted in Katzenberger to tie the game at 3-3. Miller singled to load the bases, and Ryan scored on a pass ball to give Northeast a 4-3 lead.

Buckheit, who started the game at second base, got on base via hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the second and came around to score after an intentional walk to Seidler and a slow roller up the middle by Hynson that the Eagles threw away. Seidler made it to third but was picked off by a great snap throw by Northeast catcher Brian Titus, with Katzenberger applying the tag. The Eagles got out of the inning with consecutive pickoffs as Green caught Hynson in a rundown to kill the Chesapeake threat and keep the game tied 4-4.  

Colby Sanders led off the top of the third for Northeast with a double but was thrown out at home by Young to snuff out the Eagles’ threat. Chesapeake took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third when Spangler singled, Young sacrificed him over and Mike Cybert doubled to bring him home.

Buckheit came on to pitch the top of the fourth and got two strikeouts and a fly out, pounding the strike zone with sharp breaking balls and a lively fastball.

“I felt great,” said Buckheit. “We’ve got probably the best pitching in the county and state, and I just came in and tried to throw strikes. I’ve got a great defense behind me, so I just went in there, pound the zone, and I did my job.”

The defense made its presence known at a critical juncture. It was still 5-4 Chesapeake in the top of the sixth when Northeast mounted a threat. Katzenberger singled and Ryan walked to give the Eagles runners at first and second with one out and the top of the order up. Moya ripped a hard grounder to third that looked like a sure base hit down the line, but Chesapeake’s Lee Robinson dived to his right, snared the ball, tagged third for the force out and threw to first for an inning-ending 5-3 double play.

Wearing jersey No. 5 like Orioles’ Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, Lee Robinson’s play thwarted what was perhaps the Eagles’ best chance to pull back even or go ahead.

“That play at third was really, really a killer,” said King, adding with a smile, “A diving double play by Robinson, number 5.”

Nate Klasmeyer came on in relief of Green in the fifth, and the Cougars tacked on necessary insurance runs in the sixth when Young singled to drive in Evan Groh (pinch running for Buckheit, who had singled) and Hynson, who had also singled, and make it 7-4:

Big bases-loaded, two-RBI single by Dylan Young in the bottom of the sixth to increase Chesapeake’s lead to 7-4. pic.twitter.com/15g032cdre

— PasadenaVoiceSports (@PVoiceSports) May 12, 2018

Spangler singled between Hynson and Young and came around to score on throwing error to make it 8-4.

Miller reached on an error to start the top of the seventh, and the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs, but Buckheit got a crucial strikeout before inducing two 6-3 groundouts to Young to close the game.

King said the team prepared well knowing Northeast would be a credible threat, and he was glad to see the Cougars execute.

“I feel like we had a good week of practice, preaching waiting on good pitches to hit, not chasing pitches that aren’t strikes and realizing balls that are low stay low,” said King. “I think we executed that plan which was really nice for us. Once we got out of that first inning, that first inning was the tell tale sign. We were down two, and we came back and got three, and that told me we were probably going to be okay today.”

Spangler said the team is confident one through nine that the offense will be there.

“I always believe we can put together runs,” he said. “We worked all week on hitting lefties, and then the game it just became a habit, so it became pretty easy.”

The rivalry was well-attended, and the teams got a beautiful Saturday to play it. There was some healthy jawing, nothing over the line, and the teams maintained respect while acknowledging they were burning to beat their rivals.

“It feels great to send them home in the first playoff game,” said Buckheit.

Said Spangler, “It always feels good [to beat Northeast] and it’s great to have a crowd supporting you.”

The Eagles played well in defeat, and with 12 wins on the season, are much improved over last year’s two-win squad.

Miller and Moya, both seniors, had standout years for the Eagles and made an impact in their final high school game, with Moya having two hits, an RBI and a run and Miller two hits, an RBI and two runs.

Walters had two hits for the Eagles, and Green and Matt Lorch had the team’s other two base hits.

“Coming back from last year it was a really big turnaround,” said Miller of Northeast. “The seniors really came out this year and just played great. I’m really proud of this squad. We really became a family this year. No real social groups this year, just kind of all coming together. We all just like to be around each other, even when practice is done, we love hanging around with each other and having a good time. …[Today] I really feel like we came out strong in the beginning of the game, and Tyler was great today, but we came up a little short. We just couldn’t really back it up with our offense, and that was just about it.”

Northeast coach Adam Bolling said the Eagles have improved the culture of the program, and they have something they can build on.

“You know, two wins last year, and it’s a lot of the same faces, so for them to work as hard as they did and toe the company line the way they did after a two-win season says a lot about this senior class,” said Bolling. “The legacy they’ve left behind is not a 12-win team, it’s building a culture and giving it to the young guys who were in this dugout today.”

Chesapeake will have to be road warriors next week. The Cougars will travel all the way down to Berlin, outside of Ocean City, to Stephen Decatur High School, which defeated J.M. Bennett, for Tuesday’s Class 3A East region Section II final.

PHOTO GALLERY: Chesapeake vs. Northeast baseball, 3A East playoffs, 5.12.18