Severna Park Baseball Defeats Broadneck, In Race For Top Region Seed

The Severna Park baseball team kept the inside track on top seeding for the fast-approaching region playoffs with a 3-0 win over visiting rival Broadneck on April 26.

Winning pitcher Cam Clark struck out 11 batters and allowed only six hits in the complete-game victory for the Falcons, who got a 2-for-2 day with a double and an RBI from Kody Milton as well as RBIs from Brendan Simonds and George Lesher to improve to a county-best 13-2 overall.

AJ Weyant and Nick Horgan added base hits for Severna Park, and Drew Jeffries reached base twice and added a steal. Horgan had a stolen base, and Milton was intentionally walked late in the game and had a steal in the win.

Cameron Urlock and Ethan Soto both had two base hits for Broadneck, who got a pretty solid pitching outing from Nick Gatton in the loss that dropped the Bruins to 7-9 overall.

Severna Park’s victory avenged an early-season loss to Broadneck, when the Bruins won 6-3 on April 3, and the Falcons also hadn’t forgotten that Broadneck was one of the three teams to beat them last year during Severna Park’s stellar 22-3, state-semifinalist season.

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park baseball vs. Broadneck, Chesapeake, April 2018

Clark was sharp from start to finish in blanking the Bruins, saying he badly wanted this victory over this opponent.

“I think they’re the only team that has beaten me, my only two varsity losses,” said Clark. “Today, I felt confident from the beginning.”

Lesher, the Falcons’ catcher, said he and Clark worked together to mix pitches and keep the Bruins guessing, and were more effective doing so than in the teams’ April matchup.

“We lost [against Broadneck] the first time, so it was even more important to come back and beat them,” said Lesher. “Cam pitched well the first time but they kind of hit him a little bit. We were out there just trying to mix up his pitches and get them off-balance, and that’s what we did today. It was successful. It was big to beat them, because they beat us last year too, they were one of our few losses, so it was a pretty big game for us to come out there and hand it to them.”

The win was a quality rebound from the Falcons’ April 20 loss to Chesapeake, a 12-4 defeat in which the Cougar offense erupted for several runs late in the game.

While the win employed more off a playoff formula — great pitching and a few timely hits — the Falcons’ calling card this season has been their offense. Through 15 games, Severna Park has pounded out an astounding 152 runs, with contributions coming from throughout the lineup.

“We’ve got a good lineup. That’s our strength,” said Severna Park coach Eric Milton. “Even some days when we do give up runs and the pitching is not what we want, we can usually out-slug teams. We knew coming into this year that was going to be our strength, and it has been.”

Clark and Kody Milton have been leading the charge. Through 15 games, Milton is batting a whopping .538 — 21 for 39 — with six home runs, 21 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Clark is batting .409 and also has six homers with 19 RBIs and 22 runs.

Because the seniors are afforded an abbreviated school day, they get extra swings in the batting cage each day before practice.

“It makes it easy getting out of school early as seniors, so we can hit a lot more than we did last year,” said Milton.

They’re not the only Falcons who have been producing from their spots in the lineup, as Severna Park has a total of eight players who have smacked home runs this season and a team total of 22. Jeffries is hitting .439 with two home runs, three doubles and 15 RBIs. Lesher is hitting .341 with a homer, four doubles, 14 RBIs and 12 runs. Simonds (.348, two home runs, 10 RBIs), Weyant (.429, 12 hits, three doubles, 11 runs), Garrett Whitaker (.357, 10 hits, 13 RBIs), Luke Guy (.444, two home runs), Josh Horgan (.519, 14 hits, 10 RBIs), Nick Horgan (nine hits, 11 runs scored), Kevin Kobosko (.368, seven hits, seven runs, five RBIs), Jacob Way (one home run, eight runs), Jordan Hallet (five hits, six runs) and Garrett Weiss (four base hits, nine runs as a frequent pinch-runner) have all made an impact at the plate and on the base paths.

Clark has shouldered a team-leading 32 innings as the team’s number-one pitcher, while Lesher has three wins in four starts in the unusual role of catcher and second starting pitcher. Evan Lewis also has three wins in four starts, while Simonds has seen time on the mound as well to add to Severna Park’s pitching depth.

With the final week of the regular season happening in the first week of May, and even with the team’s 6-2 defeat to Arundel on April 27, the Falcons have a good chance to land a spot in the county championship game, likely against Arundel, and secure home-field seeding for much or all of the 4A East playoffs.

Coach Milton says he’s like most of the baseball coaches in the county who are loathe to deploy pitchers in an extra outing that comes with playing for the county championship, but he knows the game ends up being fun for the players. The Falcons defeated Chesapeake 3-2 in an exciting finish in last year’s county championship game.

“I don’t like it. You’re using a pitcher, you’d like to get a little rest, and you use more arms and more guys,” said Milton. “But, we were in it last year, and it was a great game, it was intense and it came right down to the wire, and the kids were into it. But, I would rather not do it, and I think most coaches feel the same way.”

Lesher said the team is confident it can make the most of its season not by focusing on larger goals, but instead by focusing on the every-day approach.

“I think it’s just important for us seniors to set a good example for the younger kids, like the seniors did for us last year,” said Lesher. “They set such a good example for us. We just try to replicate that and encourage the guys to do the same. That’s the biggest part is just instilling confidence in one another.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Severna Park baseball vs. Broadneck, Chesapeake, April 2018