TIMONIUM, Md. -- After four days of rainy weather, game cancellations and unplayable field conditions, the Urbana Hawks boys baseball team got their chance to play May 20 and simply decided they didn't want to stop, taking the 5-3 win against the Kenwood Blue Birds.
The Hawks, riding the momentum of the day after closing a win against Dulaney earlier in the morning, opened up with a three-run first inning against Kenwood senior Shane Campbell. Campbell, who will play for the University of Maryland next year, seemed to struggle with his control in the first inning, resulting in four walks and one hit before he could retire the side. By then, the damage was done and Urbana took advantage of their speed, stealing multiple bases outright and several others off fielding errors.
Stolen bases were commonplace for Urbana throughout the game. When asked about the 15 total Urbana stole, Hawks coach Mike Frownfelter said, "In pregame, we looked at how strong their catcher's arm was. We saw a weakness and took advantage of it."
Kenwood countered Urbana's first-inning onslaught, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first to keep within striking distance. Over the next two innings, Campbell, who finished the game with 11 strikeouts, regained his ball control and was almost perfect over the next two innings, striking out four of six batters and grounding out the other two. Kenwood capitalized on his performance, evening the score in the bottom of the third with a walk-in run.
That was the last run the Hawks Jeff Bynaker would surrender to Kenwood. Bynaker made the most of this opportunity, using it to finish his first complete game of the season. The senior pitcher, who had six strikeouts for the game, allowed his team to do a lot of the defense for him, earning him high praise from his coach.
"We just needed him to throw strikes," Frownfelter said. "Three games in two days, we just needed someone to eat up innings and Jeff did a great job of that."
Bynaker was also responsible for the Hawks final two runs, driving in one and then stealing home off an infield error in the fourth inning to help to lead the Hawks to victory.
Blue Birds coach Don Keener said there were no surprises in Urbana's style of play.
"We were pretty prepared. We just didn't hit the ball," he said. "We had a chance to break this open or at least get the lead. There were just too many walks, four or five runs were walks.
"It's just a tough way to lose, but we fought them to the end. They're not a bad team."
Earlier in the day, the Hawks, who finished the season with a 6-12 record, defeated the 14-4 Dulaney Lions, 2-0, in a 10-inning game to advance to the third round of the Maryland 4A Boys Baseball Championships, setting them up for the matchup against Kenwood.
Urbana will try to prove they are more than their record in the semifinals May 21, where they play the winner of Westminster v. Thomas Johnson.
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