HANOVER — One split-second decision can change the complexion of a ballgame.
Garrett County got the first two outs of the first inning, St. Mary’s put runners on the corners, and it drew up a first-and-third play where it intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second to bring the lead runner home.
Garrett had the runner at third dead to rights, but a moment of hesitation allowed Jason Greg to slide in safely with a steal of home.
Garrett County was playing catch up the rest of the way after two more runs crossed home plate in the inning, and it never made up the ground, falling to St. Mary’s, 9-1, on Day 1 of the Maryland American Legion state tournament at Joe Cannon Stadium.
“I’m definitely disappointed that we lost, but I’m (more) disappointed with how we plated at times,” Garrett County Post 71/208/214 manager Phil Carr said.
“We made some great plays, two or three diving plays in the infield and a nice play in center field in the first inning, but just some small things we didn’t do in the first inning. We throw the ball sooner to home and we’re out of the inning. … Should’ve been maybe 1-0 going into the fourth.”
Garrett County (17-6-1) will begin what it hopes is a deep loser’s bracket run when it battles the loser of Boonsboro Post 10 and Severna Park Post 175 in an elimination game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The 3-0 St. Mary’s lead after the first inning impacted the game two-fold.
It limited the pressure Garrett could put on St. Mary’s with small ball, a trademark of Carr-coached teams, and it allowed Post 255 to take more risks on the bases.
St. Mary’s again benefited from the strategy during a four-run sixth inning.
Austin Michael pushed two across with a two-RBI single to right field, and he caught Garrett sleeping, legging out a hustle double even though the outfielder hit the cut-off man.
St. Mary’s then tacked on another run when AJ Stefko singled a batter later. Michael held up at third, but Stefko intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second on the same play, and Michael scored from third.
“We take some risks,” said St. Mary’s Post 255 manager Tony Stefko, a Frostburg State graduate. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and they got us a couple times. But when you have a lead, you can do things like that. When you don’t, it’s harder. We were trying to be a little more aggressive to put pressure on their defense.”
When Garrett did sniff out the aggression, like in the fifth inning when it threw out a runner at the plate in another first-and-third play, St. Mary’s still found the two-out hit, as Troy Smith lined a two-out RBI hit later in the at-bat.
It was just one of those days for Garrett, which put two runners on base in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t find the big hit.
An RBI groundout by Jared Haskiell, who was 2 for 4, pushed across Garrett’s lone run in the fifth.
St. Mary’s, meanwhile, scored all of its first five runs with two outs.
“We would space our hits out, we couldn’t get a big hit,” Carr said. “We left some guys on base like we have a lot of times this year. Robert (Deatelhauser) did his thing, gutted it out.”
Deatelhauser gave up 10 hits to the powerful St. Mary’s offense, but the left-hander settled in after the three-run first inning, allowing two runs over the next four innings to give Garrett a chance.
Carr pulled Deatelhauser at 75 pitches, meaning he’d be available Tuesday if Garrett can win three straight elimination games to get to the tournament’s final day.
Despite the handful of mental lapses, Garrett’s defense made a series of standout plays.
Shortstop Brayden Upole made a pair of diving catches in the hole, and Cole Folk laid out for a grab on a liner up the middle — all three likely saved runs.
And in the first inning, center fielder Ben Lohr came up with an over-the-shoulder catch deep in the outfield.
Elliott Myers-Shirer slotted a pinch-hit double down the left-field line in the seventh for Garrett’s lone extra-base hit, and Folk scored a run.
St. Mary’s racked up 14 hits to Garrett’s six. While Garrett had a base hit in six of seven innings, it didn’t have multiple knocks in any frame.
Greg led St. Mary’s going 3 for 4 with two doubles, Smith singled three times, Michael was 2 for 4 with two ribbies and two runs scored, Drew Watson singled twice and scored twice, and Jonathan Kale struck a 400-foot triple to dead center field.
St. Mary’s right-hander Henry Moltumyr tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings of three-hit ball, needing just 42 pitches to go into the fourth.
Garrett was too aggressive at the plate in the early going. Moltumyr expended just 28 pitches to get through three innings, and Haskiell was the only hitter to face a two-ball count, hitting safely on both occasions, up to that point.
Brayden Owen was the winning pitcher, allowing a run on two hits in 2 2/3 frames of middle relief.
Garrett County will now turn to right-hander Landon Yoder on the mound in and elimination game Saturday.
Both Garrett relievers Friday, Caleb Hinebaugh and Cole Parks, were pulled under 30 pitches, making them available Saturday.
“You get in these tournaments, you have to swing the bat,” Carr said. “You hope a team like this with the older guys will respond. They know they didn’t play well.
“Lack of being in big games for some of these guys. … It’s an eye-opener a little bit, but I thought they settled in as the game went on.”