Allegany wins 6th area championship

Jun. 29—CUMBERLAND, Md. — After going 19-2 and returning to the Class 1A state semifinals for the first time since 2013, Allegany was voted area baseball champion by a panel of local sportswriters.

It's the sixth area championship for the Campers, tying Frankfort for second all-time. Southern is the only school with more, winning 11. It's also the Campers' first area crown since Allegany won back-to-back titles in 2014-15 under the direction of head coach Scott Bauer.

"It all comes back to we had a great group of guys," Allegany head coach Jon Irons said. "We had great leadership and I had great assistant coaches. Those things combined for a good year, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

"They were focused. They worked hard every day. We talked about those little things, even when we were up big early. I've done it long enough to know, it's always going to come down to something small in the end."

The Campers were 14-0 against area opposition, losing only to St. Maria Goretti (21-4), 4-2, in extras and to eventual Class 1A state champion Clear Spring, 1-0, in the Final Four.

Allegany was ranked No. 1 in all seven regular-season polls. In the final rankings, the Campers were the unanimous top pick, followed by Mountain Ridge (11-8), Northern (15-6) and Keyser (17-11)/Moorefield (18-15), which finished in a tie for fourth.

The panel is comprised of Jeff Landes, Kyle Bennett and Alex Rychwalski (Cumberland Times-News), Chapin Jewell (Mineral News-Tribune), Nick Carroll (Hampshire Review) and Trevor King (Garrett County Republican).

It's not hard to figure out why Allegany was so good in Irons' first season at the helm: The Campers were excellent in all three phases.

They had a pair of pitchers situated in the Top 3 in the area in earned run average — Griffin Madden and Cayden Bratton.

Madden sported an area-best 1.23 ERA, surrendering nine earned runs on 25 hits in 51 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 97 and walking 21. Bratton was every bit as good, logging a 1.62 ERA in 52 frames of work, striking out 49 and walking just seven.

Throw in relievers Bryce Madden (1.00 ERA) and Demetri Bascelli (1.62 ERA), and the Campers had four arms that could've been starting pitchers on any other area team.

"Our pitching was really strong," Irons said. "I didn't get the innings I wanted to for Bryce and Demetri. I really believe that they could've thrown just as well. But when you have two kids throwing as well as Griffin and Cayden did, you'd be stupid to take them out."

Their offense was second in the area in runs scored at 9.86 a game, behind only Northern, and first in batting average at a .372 clip.

Griffin Madden, a James Madison commit, led the way with a .462 average, collecting five home runs, 30 RBIs and 31 runs scored. Alex Kennell was second on the squad with a .449 mark, and he led Allegany with 33 RBIs.

Bryce Madden hit at a .448 clip, followed by Bauer (.438, team-high 33 runs), Bratton (.371, team-high 11 doubles) and Caedon Wallace (.333 average).

"I think we hit six-through-nine better than we have anytime I've been coaching," Irons said."At one point, we had everyone hitting over .300. When you can do that, it makes it really hard on other teams with pitch counts and pitch depth."

Allegany also boasted the area's best defensive infield, led by Darian Bauer, the shortstop, who made just three errors in 21 games. Kennell, the third baseman, second baseman Griffin Madden and Wallace, the first baseman, had just four defensive miscues.

When Madden was on the bump, Bryce Madden filled in at second base, a position where he didn't make an error all year as a sophomore.

"I don't know that I've ever coached an Allegany team that had a better infield all the way around," Irons said. "It makes a big difference. ... Obviously, Griffin and Darian were solid up the middle. When Bryce came in, he was as solid as can be.

"Credit to Caedon Wallace, he's a sophomore, and when you have guys that pitch like that, they expect you to make plays. Day 1, he stepped in."

Allegany graduates just three starters, Bauer, Bascelli and Jake McClay.

All players played pivotal roles at times, but none bigger than Bauer. In addition to his approach out of the No. 2 hole and his defensive acumen, the Campers will need to replace the intangibles that Bauer brings to the table.

"Those guys were tough," Irons said. "That starts with having someone like Darian Bauer, a senior. A leader. He's tough, he's steady. He doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low.

"We return some big pieces, but we also lose some big pieces, too. We're going to work hard to be good next year. You lose a kid like Darian, who's a really good shortstop and two outfielders. Somebody's going to have to lead, and that's not a small thing."

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