Severna Park baseball’s Angel Santiago-Cruz shuts down Arundel in 9-0 county championship win

Angel Santiago-Cruz is not going to Richmond on a baseball scholarship and is not on the radar of professional scouts because of his pitching prowess.

Santiago-Cruz earned his reputation as a power-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop. However, the Severna Park senior showed on Tuesday night that he’s a darn good pitcher as well.

Santiago-Cruz hurled a shutout through six innings and notched eight strikeouts to lead Severna Park to a 9-0 rout of Arundel in the county championship game at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-hander used a two-seam fastball to challenge hitters and only threw 80 pitches before exiting. Eric Benner worked the seventh to complete the shut out in a contest that lasted almost three hours due to numerous delays.

“It all starts with pitching. Angel did a wonderful job of throwing strikes and attacking the zone,” Severna Park coach Eric Milton said. “He was just outstanding today and that bodes well for us in the playoffs.”

As has been the case for many years now, the Anne Arundel County championship for baseball is held just days before the start of the playoffs. Arundel opens the postseason Thursday against South River, while Severna Park has a first-round bye before playing James M. Bennett on Saturday.

Capturing a county championship in a showcase game being held at a big-time facility is important, but does not trump the pursuit of a state championship. As a result, participating coaches are careful not to exhaust their top starter or even their No. 2 or 3.

Severna Park is fortunate to have a deep staff and Milton was able to turn to Santiago-Cruz, who normally serves in a closer role. Getting six innings out of the emergency starter was an added bonus.

“We were just going to see how the game progressed. We didn’t want Angel throwing too many pitches,” Milton said. “He looked outstanding from the first pitch to the last pitch and said he felt good. He was outstanding all the way through.”

Meanwhile, Arundel coach Frank Hood started his ace but only allowed Tha’Mon McGriff to pitch one inning. The senior right-hander allowed two hits and no runs before moving to third base for the rest of the game.

It turned into a bullpen game from there and Hood wound up using six relievers. Nick Dolbin and Tahner McGriff teamed to keep the game scoreless through three innings, but then the floodgates opened from the fourth through the sixth.

Severna Park sent nine batters to the plate in both the fourth and fifth innings, scoring seven runs to break the game wide open. The Falcons tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Arundel relievers issued 10 walks and allowed six singles during that decisive three-inning span.

“We walked a lot of guys, muffed a couple pop ups, dropped a foul ball, hit a batter. You make mistakes against a good team and you’re going to lose. Severna Park made us pay for our mistakes,” Hood said.

Hood acknowledged the dilemma of trying to put your best foot forward in the county championship game while at the same time saving your best starter for a game that is ultimately more meaningful.

“It’s a great atmosphere to have the event, but when you have playoffs starting immediately afterward… it’s just a tough situation,” said Hood, adding that he hopes county officials revisit the format to alleviate the conundrum.

Third baseman Benji Beisler reached base three times with a single and two walks then scored three runs to spark the Severna Park offense. Beisler delivered an RBI single to highlight a three-run fourth inning that got the Falcons going.

Second baseman Adam Clark reached base three times with a single and two walks and scored two runs. Firsts baseman Dylan Grice and right fielder Jackson O’Brien both contributed two RBIs.

“We played a good game. We played a clean game. We were able to be the first team to get a run across the board and it kind of snowballed from there,” Milton said.

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It was the second county championship for the Severna Park seniors, who also beat Arundel on this stage as sophomores. Santiago-Cruz picked up the win in his first start of the season and felt good that he was able to allow the other pitchers on the staff to rest.

“It was taxing energy-wise and on my arm, but I was prepared for it. Coach had let me know ahead of time that he was going to need me to go out there and give the team some innings,” Santiago-Cruz said. “My approach was to challenge them with my velocity and make them hit the ball. I’ve got a good defense behind me so I wanted to attack hitters and if they put the ball in play I know my boys got my back.”

Santiago-Cruz thought his two-seam fastball, which he throws inside and with some spin, jammed the Arundel hitters and led to numerous pop ups and weak grounders.

“Angel threw very well. He’s a real competitor whether it’s at the plate, in the field or on the mound,” Hood said. “He was a real bulldog tonight and just went after batters — just pounded the zone and relied on his defense.”