Towson’s baseball showdown Wednesday against visiting Perry Hall was mostly about quality pitching and a couple of big doubles.
Generals left-hander Jackson Huck got the better of a sensational pitching dual with AJ Mendoza and Aziz Bishop’s three-run double in the fifth proved the game’s biggest hit as Towson claimed a 4-2 win over the Gators in Baltimore County play.
Towson improves to 4-2, while Perry Hall falls to 4-3.
After Perry Hall took a 2-0 lead in the third on a clutch two-run double, the Generals finally got to Mendoza in the fifth with some good at-bats from the bottom of their lineup followed by the clutch two-out double from Bishop that proved the difference. Huck pitched a complete game, allowing two hits and striking out 10 Gators.
“I trusted myself, trusted my coaches, trusted all my teammates behind me and we have this kid [pointing to Bishop] with the three-run [double] in the bottom of the fifth that really gave us the momentum to pull out the great win,” said Huck, who used a quality mix of fastballs, two-seam sliders and changeups.
Mendoza, who pitched into the sixth inning and also struck out 10 batters, was in top form through four innings of one-hit ball.
And then came the fifth.
Mitchell Toung led off with a dribbler down the third-base line that stayed fair. Nate Berkowitz followed with a deep fly to right that just eluded outfielder Jake Benner for a long single. After Dylan Galli popped up a bunt just by sprawling Mendoza to load the bases, Generals’ nine-hitter Connor Dickens earned a run-scoring walk that made it 2-1.
Mendoza struck out Michael Parry and Marquise Harris in a bid to end the threat. But Bishop, who struck out in his previous at-bat, came big in the game’s biggest moment.
He pulled a deep liner to left field that cleared the bases to make it 4-2, taking third base on the throw to home and letting out a happy roar.
“Me and [Mendoza], we love to compete and so once he got me on that strikeout, I knew it was time to come back and I just stuck with my approach,” Bishop said. “I’ve been working on my mental game recently, so that’s what carried me through that at-bat. I was just thinking keep it simple and see the ball out of his hands.”
Now protecting a two-run lead with two innings left, Huck retired the final six batters, closing out the win by striking out Travon Robinson and Sam Schattall. After surrendering Johnson’s two-run double, he retired the last 13 batters he faced.
Huck showed appreciation to Mendoza.
“I got to perform, he’s got to perform and we put pressure on each other to keep on going. He’s one of my guys over there, so credit to him to push me to do my best,” he said.
Towson coach Shawn Tormey was pleased with the win and equally appreciative of the experience.
“In Maryland high school baseball, everyone is in a bracket and you’re going to play in the postseason,” he said. “So you try to get as many experiences during the regular season that prepares you for that and facing AJ Mendoza is what we want because that’s a test.”
Perry Hall coach Joe Carlineo, whose Gators were playing their third game in as many days, knows his team will benefit from the day’s good work as well.
“I give Towson credit. We got the two-out double [from Johnson] and we were hoping it would be enough but it turned out it wasn’t. It was a great game,” he said.
Both teams return to league play at 4 p.m. Friday with Towson traveling to Eastern Tech and Perry Hall hosting Franklin.
Perry Hall — 002 000 0 — 2 2 0
Towson — 000 040 X — 4 6 1
WP: Huck. LP: AJ Mendoza
2B: PH — Johnson; T — Bishhop