OAKLAND — Northern was perfect in the field, Jacob Chambers came up with a timely hit and with Luke Ross dealing, that was all it took for a Husky victory.
Ross and Southern’s Cade Leader were both dialed in on the mound, as the Garrett County rivals raced to the finish line in a game that ended in 1 hour and 29 minutes.
With razor-thin margins, the Rams blinked first, making a two-out error to extend the third inning, and Chambers made them pay with a two-run double to right-center field one batter later that proved to be the game’s lone offense.
Ross slammed the door in the seventh with back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners on, capping off a four-hit shutout that powered No. 1 Northern to a 2-0 win over Southern on Wednesday for its 12th consecutive win.
“Give both pitchers credit, Luke threw his butt off,” Northern skipper Phil Carr said. “Very efficient, good breaking ball. He got guys to chase in the dirt today.
“When the offense is struggling, defense and pitching has got to pick you up.”
Northern upped its record to 16-1 overall and 7-1 in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference.
The Huskies clinched the WestMAC title on Tuesday with a 5-0 win over Mountain Ridge, their first since 2021.
“Before we played Mountain Ridge yesterday, I told them, there’s something that’s missing from you five core guys that were on that region championship team,” Carr said, referencing the 2023 Huskies that advanced to the state semifinals.
“I said let’s go get that (WestMAC championship), and they did.”
The Huskies haven’t gotten their bats going over the past five games, but they haven’t needed to, holding their opposition to just two runs with three shutouts over that span.
Northern has limited its opponents to one or fewer runs in 11 of its 17 games, and its pitching has a 21-inning scoreless steak.
Ross is responsible for a third of that, holding Southern to just four hits with seven strikeouts to three walks on Wednesday.
“Cade Leader, heck of a start for him,” Southern manager Hayden McLaughlin said of his pitcher. “Luke Ross, great pitcher, threw a heck of a game. We had some really good ABs, put some stuff together, but again, little mistakes roll into big ones.”
Northern’s pitching is only part of the equation, as Ross’ defense made no errors.
The Huskies have just 12 as a team through 17 games.
“I shouldn’t say, but knock on wood, we’ve got the least amount of errors of any team I’ve ever coached in 37 years through 17 games,” Carr said.
Shortstop Cole Folk provided the game’s defensive highlight in the fourth inning with a leaping grab to steal a base hit away from Southern’s Ryan Bird, who doubled later in the game.
A batter prior, Reece Tasker hit a towering fly ball to deep center field, and Northern’s Robert Deatelhauser made the catch in front of the fence.
Mistakes, both mental and physical, again doomed Southern against a quality opponent.
In addition to the error that tagged two unearned runs to Leader — who held Northern to seven hits in seven innings with a strikeout and a walk — Southern made two more in the first, though Leader got out of the jam when his defense turned a 6-4-3 double play.
The Rams then made a miscue at the plate in the bottom half, as a Southern runner on third with less than two outs didn’t tag up on a fly ball by Tasker to right field that was deep enough to sacrifice him in.
Ross retired the next hitter on a groundout, and he didn’t give up another base hit until the sixth inning.
“They gave themselves every opportunity to win the game, and we took ourselves out of it,” McLaughlin said.
In addition to Chambers’ decisive double, Folk and Nick Riley had two hits each for Northern. Brayden Upole had a two-hit game for the Rams.
Southern will try to get back on track when it welcomes No. 4 Petersburg (12-4) on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Northern hosts East Hardy (5-12) on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
“The offense is on and off, but one of these days we’re going to have to out-hit somebody,” Carr said. “That day’s coming, let’s be ready for it.”