Archbishop Curley baseball quells Catonsville’s rally to win in extra innings, 7-6
Archbishop Curley’s Cooper Cumberledge hasn’t had many chances to be a hero, but Tuesday afternoon he drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning and Owen Shaprow retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame to give the Friars a 7-6 extra-inning victory over host Catonsville.
Cumberledge, who tripled in his first at-bat, lofted one just inside the right-field line to score Chase Bandy, who singled to lead off the inning.
“It was a little bloop,” Cumberledge said. “I was trying to push it a little bit further or hit like a line drive to right field, but instead it was more of a bloop, but it got the job done.”
It was a rare start for the junior, as Curley coach Joe Gaeta played his entire roster during a break from the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference schedule.
“Triple and a game-winning hit, you can be a starter real quick here,” Gaeta said.
The Comets trailed 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh but rallied with three runs. Tommy Bolster led off with a walk and Dan Lauer beat out a grounder for a hit one out later. Colin Hood’s walk loaded the bases for Brayden Godwin.
Bolster came home on a wild pitch and Lauer and Hood advanced to third and second. That set up the play of the day. Godwin drilled a drive to deep right center where Nico Brownlee made a diving catch next to the wall. However, Lauer scored easily and Hood came around from second on the two-run sacrifice fly.
“He made a nice play on the ball,” Catonsville coach Eric Warm said. “I was hoping that ball was going to be down, but Colin tagged up and he was running hard and that fielder stayed on the ground an extra second or two, and I’m going to take advantage of him not getting up. We are going to make them throw us out and they didn’t do it.”
The keys to the Friars’ offensive attack were leadoff hitter Colin Roche and No. 3 Hunter Lahew. Roche went 2-for-3 and scored three runs, and Lahew was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
“They were good table-setters, they are good base runners. You get a little speed on the base and we just go station to station,” Gaeta said.
Curley (10-9) jumped ahead 2-0 in the top of the first when Roche led off with a single and scored on Lahew’s hit. Lahew later scored on a wild pitch.
Starting pitcher Gunnar Gemmell, making his second appearance, blanked the Friars the next three innings and the Comets rallied to take a 3-2 lead.
A leadoff double by Lauer (2-for-3) and RBI single by Billy Armenis cut the lead in half, and a sacrifice fly by Adam Stephen scored Harry Dean (3-for-5) to tie it in the third.
“Harry is having a great season, he’s doing a wonderful job hitting the ball,” Warm said. “He’s a senior, team leader, he’s doing a phenomenal job both on offense and defense.”
Curley rallied with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth in an inning ignited by a one-out double by Roche and RBI double by Mahew, who scored on a wild pitch.
A leadoff triple by Elijah Ritter led to a run in the sixth and RBI single by Shaprow dove home the sixth run.
The loss dropped the Comets to 3-4 overall, but five of their seven games have been decided by one run. Tuesday was one of four games scheduled this week.
“We want to play good teams,” Warm said. “We want to play teams who are going to make plays and put the bat on the ball and force us to make plays. That’s what prepares you for the playoffs. That’s why we had them on the schedule and that’s why we play this game.”
Gaeta was glad to get a break from the MIAA grind and he was impressed by the Baltimore County foe.
“Those guys played us hard. I mean, they hit the ball in their first three at-bats, they were hitting the ball better than we were, that’s for sure,” Gaeta said. “They were doing exactly what they had to do.”
Curley — 200 021 11 — 7 11 1
Catonsville — 011 100 30 — 6 9 2
WP: Anthony Ceron LP: Jack Kearney
2B: AC — Colin Roche, Hunter Lehew; C — Dan Lauer; 3B: AC — Cooper Cumberledge, Elijah Ritter.