Whenever an Arundel baseball hitter gets into a lengthy battle with the opposing pitcher, his teammates in the dugout start chanting “fight, fight, fight.”
That is exactly what the Wildcats did for most of this season after getting off to a rough start. Now, that fighter mentality has Arundel in the state quarterfinals.
Leadoff hitter Luke Gamble went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored as fifth-seeded Arundel upset No. 3 Severna park, 7-2, in the Class 3A East Region I championship game Wednesday night at Joe Cannon Stadium.
Arundel is one of eight regional champions in 3A that will be reseeded by regular-season record once all the finals are completed.
First baseman Grayson O’Donnell totaled two hits and an RBI, while left fielder Nicholas Billheimer contributed two hits, two runs and an RBI for Arundel (13-10), which captured its first region crown since 2012. Franky Vega came through in the clutch with a pinch hit RBI double for the Wildcats.
“These guys have been battling all season. People wrote them off for a while there,” Arundel coach Frank Hood said. “Like we told them at the beginning of the season: ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ We’ve had teams that started really hot and not moved on in the playoffs. This team has come together and gotten hot at the right time. I’m super proud of these guys because they fight and they fight and they fight.”
The Wildcats began the season 1-5, then won nine of their next 14 to finish the regular season 10-10. Arundel was the lowest seed in the East Region and proceeded to upset No. 4 South River and No. 1 Stephen Decatur on the road.
Wednesday’s game was supposed to be played at Severna Park on Tuesday, but was postponed due to rain and moved to Cannon Stadium. Falcons coach Eric Milton was not pleased with losing home field advantage, but did not blame that for the result.
“They beat us, pure and simple. We didn’t have a good game and that’s the bottom line,” Severna Park coach Eric Milton said. “We didn’t play well and we didn’t deserve to win the game.”
Arundel starting pitcher Tahner McGriff scattered five hits through five innings and only allowed one run to earn the win. The senior right-hander notched seven strikeouts and allowed three walks.
“Tahner was outstanding. He wasn’t sharp at times, but worked with what he had and he kept that lineup off-balance,” Hood said.
Rowland Thursby moved from shortstop to the pitcher’s mound to start the sixth inning and allowed one run on one hit through two innings. Thursby also delivered an RBI double and scored two runs.
With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the third inning, Gamble provided the big blow — jumping all over a fastball down the middle and hammering it high over the left field fence for a two-run homer.
“Luke is one of the best hitters in his class. He struggled earlier this season, but has really turned it on over the last couple weeks,” Hood said. “Luke really turned on that one and that was a no-doubter.”
Gamble agreed the home run was the momentum changer that swung the tide of the game.
“I was just staying within myself and trusting my swing. I got the fastball I was waiting for and took advantage of it,” he said.
Gamble’s home came off Severna Park starter Dylan Grice, who was charged with the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk through 4 ⅔ innings. Grice recorded five strikeouts.
Vega drove in designated hitter Dom Erculiani in the fourth to increase the Arundel lead to 4-1. The Wildcats then tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the seventh with Gamble singling and scoring on a double by Thursby. Billheimer singled in Thursby then scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Severna Park should have scored more than two runs considering the traffic it generated, but left 11 runners on base.
“We had plenty of opportunities. We had men on base the whole game. We just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it,” Milton said.
“This team just fights through adversity. We started off bad, but we got on a nice winning streak to end the regular season,” Gamble said. “We said we were going to get on a run in the playoffs and that’s what we’ve done. Let’s keep it going. We all love each other and have great chemistry. We want to keep playing, keep having fun; We’re the underdogs and we love it. We’re ready for whoever is up next.”
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Arundel (13-10) 1-0-2-1-0-0-3 — 7-10-2
Severna Park (14-6) 1-0-0-0-0-0-1 — 2-5-0
WP: McGriff. LP: Grice. 2B: AR — Vega, Thursby. HR: AR — Gamble.