Allegany homers 5 times to hold off No. 2 Northern, 15-10

Apr. 13—ACCIDENT — The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for much of Maryland on Wednesday, but Allegany didn't get the memo.

The white-hot Camper bats launched five home runs from five different hitters, and they needed every last one of them after Northern cut the Alco edge to 11-10 with a seven-run fifth inning.

Caedon Wallace dealt the crucial blow, sending a three-run bomb over the left field fence in the seventh inning to allow No. 1 Allegany to fend off No. 2 Northern in a 15-10 shootout.

Both teams walked away happy with their offensive production and quality of at-bats, but both lamented the number of free baserunners they relinquished.

"We've worked with our pitchers being more efficient and not putting people on for free, and we didn't do a good job of that today," Allegany head coach Jon Irons said. "We're still in a position of throwing too many pitches.

"We have to get better at that. When you let a team like Northern get extra baserunners, they'll take advantage of it. They did. Credit to them."

Allegany improved to 8-1 overall and remained in first place in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference at 3-0. Northern fell to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the WestMAC.

The Campers walked nine Northern batters in total, which played a part in the Huskies being able to trim an 11-3 hole into a one-run game.

However, the Northern defense, which committed six errors in total, let the Huskies' pitching down at a crucial time in the seventh, as a would-be double play turned into a Camper insurance run. One batter later, Wallace plated three with his blast.

Allegany turned up its defense in the final half-inning when Griffin Madden made a lunging stab at a liner at shortstop to begin the frame, and center fielder Bryce Madden robbed a home run for the game's final out.

While the result doesn't have the same sting as its 21-0 loss to Allegany early in the year, Northern knows it had a pristine chance to topple the area's top team.

"We did two things better than we did down there. Offensively we were better. Pitching we were better. You take away the runs they scored after we should've been out of innings," Northern head coach Phil Carr said. "You can't give a team like them any extra outs. We gave them a handful or more today.

"That's a great chance to beat the No. 1 team right there. We had our opportunities. If we just made some plays."

Wallace's big fly was the Campers' fifth and final of the night, with the first four leaving the yard in the first two frames.

The first three were of the two-run variety. Bryce Madden served an 0-1 pitch over the centerfield fence just two batters into the game, and Caden Long tacked on two more with a no-doubter to center that hit the school.

Griffin Madden joined the party with a two-run bomb to left field an inning later, and Alex Kennell went back-to-back with a solo shot to center.

"I thought the home runs we hit tonight, those guys were trying to hit line drives and the ball just got out," Irons said. "If we continue that approach, I think we'll be the hitting team that we're capable of being.

"If we go back to trying to hit home runs after hitting five today, we'll go back to flying out again."

Northern should've been out of the second inning unscathed, but an error on a ground ball at the shortstop with two outs prolonged the frame. Madden's and Kennell's homers followed.

The home run barrage put Allegany ahead 7-1 after just two innings, as Liam Stewart got Northern on the board with a double in the bottom half of the second.

Stewart made it 7-3 Allegany with another two-RBI hit in the third.

Griffin Madden had run-scoring knocks in the fourth and fifth innings, and a pair of Northern errors plated a pair of Camper runs in both frames to put Allegany ahead 11-3.

Northern made it a one-run game with seven runs in the fifth, fueled by two-RBI hits by Kellen Hinebaugh and Wally Brands. Ethan Sebold also plated a run with a double, and two more Huskies touched home on wild pitches.

Bryce Madden was forced out after hitting 105 pitches with one out in the fifth — he finished with a final line of six runs (five earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and seven walks in 4 1/3 innings pitched.

The Campers turned to Landyn Ansel in relief before bringing in Bratton to toss the final 2 2/3 innings to seal the victory.

"I thought we had some good at-bats to run Madden's pitch count up," Carr said. "We started to get to them a little bit."

However, the Northern rally came up short, as the Huskies left a runner in scoring position with a chance to tie or take the lead in the sixth, and Allegany answered with four insurance runs in the seventh.

Irons hopes the near-Northern miracle comeback will be a learning experience for his team.

"It absolutely is a lesson that you can't take things for granted," Irons said. "You always go into every at-bat like you're in a one-run game and you try to play the field the same way.

"We turned it up in the field the last inning, but I do feel like sometimes we get a little lax when we get up by a few runs, and you can't do that against a good team."

Allegany finished with 13 base hits. Griffin Madden went 4 for 4 with four RBIs and three runs, and Ansel was the only other Camper with multiple hits with a 2 for 4 day.

Wallace drove in three runs, and Long and Bryce Madden drove in a pair each. Madden scored four times.

Allegany stole six bases, paced by Bryce and Griffin Madden with two apiece.

For Northern, Stewart led the way hitting 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Stewart, Brands and Sebold all doubled

Luke Ross got the start for the Huskies and took the loss in four frames pitched. Cole Folk pitched the final three innings in relief.

Northern won't have too much time to think about the loss, as the Huskies come right back to take on Rockwood, Pennsylvania on the road Thursday at 4 p.m.

Allegany has a road rematch at Washington County power Clear Spring (3-1), which defeated the Campers in the Class 1A state semifinals last year at McCurdy Field in a 1-0 thriller.

The Campers and Blazers square off on Friday at 4:45 p.m.

"It's a big one for us," Irons said. "After last year playing them, we made the call down and asked if they wanted to play this year, and we told them we'd come to them. We want to go learn some more about ourselves.

"Hopefully we don't give them as many free passes and free bags as we gave to Northern today, and I expect it to be a heck of a baseball game."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.