FROSTBURG — No. 4 Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge were tied at 3 after four innings.
The Sentinels (11-7, 4-4 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) struck for five runs in the fifth and three in the sixth, pulling away for an 11-4 win to end the regular season on Tuesday.
“Couldn’t be more proud of my guys,” Fort Hill head coach Tanner Brode said. “Our guys pieced together a total game. We had 11 runs today, 15 hits, no errors. The guys on the mound delivered. When we do all aspects of the game, we’re a solid baseball team.”
After an error put the leadoff runner on, Jacob VanMeter sent a fly ball to left center.
After a diving attempt from one of the outfielders came up short, one run scored as VanMeter rounded third and crossed home plate.
It was ruled an RBI triple with VanMeter scoring on the throw, giving Fort Hill a 5-3 lead.
A double steal later in the inning set up Lukas McMillan to steal home.
A fielding error at third and an RBI single from Bobby Brauer pushed the Sentinels lead to 8-3.
“Guys getting active at the plate, readjusting their approach,” Brode said of what changed in the fifth. “John Delaney is a tough pitcher to face. They kind of settled in and were able to get back into a rhythm.”
VanMeter added a run in the top of the sixth on a base hit to right center before stealing home later in the frame.
VanMeter finished with five RBIs going 2 for 5 with a triple.
Peyton Blocher hit a line drive to left for an RBI knock, stretching Fort Hill’s advantage to 11-3.
“I thought we played well the first couple innings,” Mountain Ridge head coach Justin Cook said. “We were in the ball game at one point. We continued to fight, but we’re in a position where we’re trying to save pitchers because we play Thursday.”
Delaney led off the bottom of the seventh for the Miners (5-13, 0-8 WestMAC) with a double down the left-field line.
He scored on a ground ball single from Eli Sibley two batters later.
Delaney was part of all four Miners’ runs.
He scored on a wild pitch in the third after leading off with a double.
With the bases loaded in the fourth, he sent a fly ball deep to left center for a two-run double that evened the score at 3.
Delaney was perfect in four trips to the plate, hitting four doubles and adding a pair of RBIs.
As of Sunday’s area leaderboard, Delaney’s .446 batting average was tied for fifth best.
“John keeps it simple, if you saw last year as a freshman, he was one of the leading hitters in the WestMAC,” Cook said. “John continues to work, he puts in the effort. That’s what leads to it on the field, he swings the bat and keeps it simple.”
Fort Hill opened the game with a three-run first inning off an RBI single from Colt Resh and a two-run error at third base.
Carson Bender earned the win in 3 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run off three hits with nine strikeouts.
“Carson just looked to be in a better mindset tonight,” Brode said. “I know at Allegany he had a rough outing. We were definitely pleased with what we saw tonight. I think he got back to work this week and really cleared his head.”
Brauer’s three hits led the Sentinels while Bender, Jake Rice, Colt Resh and Peyton Blocher (Mount St. Mary’s commit) all had two.
Mountain Ridge opens the Class 1A, West Region I playoffs on Thursday with the region quarterfinals.
The No. 5 seeded Miners head to No. 4 Southern (8-8, 4-4 WestMAC) at 5 p.m. with the winner facing top-seed Northern (17-2, 7-1 WestMAC) in the semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Accident.
“We’ll have a good practice tomorrow and we’ll come and be competitive against Southern,” Cook said. “That’s all I can do is ask the kids to continue to try their best.”
No. 3 seed Fort Hill plays in the other semifinal on Saturday at 11 a.m. at No. 2 Allegany (13-4, 5-3 WestMAC).
“Today’s game, a lot of people are going to wonder why we played it,” Brode said. “We wanted to get a live game in before we play Allegany on Saturday. It’s going to be a tough playoff matchup, we wanted to get some momentum in our favor.”