Allegany, St. Michaels meet for championship; Campers search for 1st title in 35 years

BOWIE — After knocking on the door for three seasons, Allegany finally broke through it.

Now just one game stands between the Campers and their first state championship in 35 years.

Top-seeded Allegany (17-4) takes on third-seeded St. Michaels (18-6) for the Class 1A title at Prince George’s Stadium on Saturday at noon.

“It’s a great opportunity for us,” said Allegany manager Jon Irons, who is 73-14 in four years at the helm. “It’s something that for the past four seasons we’ve set as our goal. We’ve had four very good baseball teams. All that legitimately could’ve made it to this point, and these guys got it done.

“They’re locked in, and at the same time they’re relaxed.”

How They Got Here

Allegany, winner in 14 of its last 15 games, advanced to the state final with a come-from-behind 6-3 win over Smithsburg in the semifinals on Tuesday.

The Campers trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth. Liam Buck gave them their first lead with a two-run single.

Allegany routed Academy for College and Career Exploration (Baltimore), 20-0, in the state quarterfinals and defeated Northern, 6-3, in the West Region I final.

St. Michaels is coming off a 4-3 win over Pikesville in the semifinals in which it scored four runs in the second inning and held off a late rally.

The win was the Saints’ fifth in a row and eighth in nine outings.

St. Michaels crushed CMIT-North, 18-1, in the quarterfinals and bested North Dorchester, 11-1, in the East I championship game.

Championship History

Allegany is searching for its first state championship since Toby Eirich’s Campers won back-to-back Class 2A crowns in 1989-90.

Allegany has been to the title game just one other time, falling to Cambridge-South Dorchester in the 2013 championship game under Scott Bauer.

Mountain Ridge is the last county school to win a baseball title, winning the 2012 Class 1A championship under John O’Neal.

St. Michaels is playing in its 10th state championship game, where it has a 5-4 record. The Saints won the title in 2017, ‘10-’11, ‘08 and ‘01.

“St. Michaels is obviously a program who has been there and done that,” Irons said. “They have a history of being in and winning state championship games. Well-coached. They’ll be prepared, and so will we.”

Local Ties

St. Michaels’ longtime skipper Brian Femi is a local product. He played infield at Bishop Walsh and later for Steve Bazarnic at Allegany College.

Femi was inducted this year into the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He entered the season with 473 wins and five state championships in 35 seasons.

His brother, Ted, coached Bishop Walsh to seven city championships in eight years between 1971-78. Their father, Ted T. Femi, formed the LaVale Little League in 1953.

One of Brian’s longtime assistants, Bill Burton, played at Fort Hill and Frostburg State.

“It’s kind of a unique thing to have guys in opposite ends of the state, but who originated from the same place,” Irons said. “It’s an interesting element to this game.”

Swiper No Swiping

St. Michaels needs just three stolen bases to tie the program record of 118 set last season.

The Saints have five players with double-digit steals: Connor Wheeler (20), Jack Brennan (19), Brock Grow (13), Blake Wheatley (12) and Will Sherwood (11).

Allegany isn’t run on often, allowing 21 stolen bases in 30 attempts. Starting catcher Justin Wakefield has thrown out seven would-be base stealers, including Smithsburg’s Eli Bowman on Tuesday, who set a school record with 29 steals this season.

By The Numbers

Allegany has scored 188 runs in 21 games, an average of 9.0, and bats .326 as a team.

St. Michaels has scored 192 runs in 24 games (8.0 per game) and bats .333.

The Saints get on base by any means necessary, drawing 138 walks and getting hit by 56 pitches — four off the school record.

By comparison, Allegany has been hit by 16 pitches.

Allegany’s pitching staff has a 2.44 earned run average and its defense has a .946 fielding percentage. St. Michaels has a 2.01 ERA and .951 fielding percentage.

Pitching Probables

Allegany’s Kohen Madden is the team’s only player who is guaranteed not to throw Saturday after maxing out at 109 pitches in Tuesday’s win over Smithsburg.

The Campers’ Myles Bascelli (RHP) and Kane Williams (LHP), who both pitched in relief against the Leopards, are the probable starters.

Bascelli recorded the final six outs in the semifinals to earn the save, battling through four walks, a hit by pitch and a base hit to leave the bases loaded twice, striking out the side in both innings.

For the year, the senior has a 5.70 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 27 innings.

Williams has a team-best 0.33 ERA in 21 innings, appearing in relief 10 times.

Right-hander Landyn Ansel (David & Elkins signee) is another option. He’s made six starts this season and has a 4.14 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 22 frames.

Sherwood is the only St. Michaels pitcher not available after earning a complete-game win in the state semifinals. He needed just 84 pitches to go seven frames, allowing three runs on five hits with three Ks and two walks.

Right-handers Grow or Eli Wallace are the probable starting arms.

Grow has a 2-2 record with a 2.36 ERA in 29 2/3 innings pitched (four starts). He has 36 strikeouts to 15 walks.

Wallace has started two more games and has two complete-game shutouts. He’s 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA in 29 1/3 frames. He’s struck out 23 and walked 11.

Hitters to watch

Allegany has six .300 hitters in Cole Ricker (.422), Williams (.403), Madden (.400), Jackson Resh (.347), Bascelli (.310) and Ansel (.308). A seventh, Eli Imes, isn’t far off at .294.

Williams leads Alco in home runs (four), triples (five) and RBIs (29). Bascelli has a team-high 32 runs scored, and Madden tops the squad with eight doubles.

St. Michaels has seven everyday players that meet that threshold in Sherwood (.394), Wheeler (.385), Pearson Greenwood (.356), AJ Dove (.341), Brennen Dean (.340), Ethan Royer (.333) and Wheatley (.309).

The Saints have 40 extra-base hits as a team, including 34 doubles. Sherwood leads the squad with six doubles, two home runs and 25 RBIs, and Wheatley has scored a St. Michaels-best 22 runs.

Bag of Tricks

St. Michaels went into its bag of tricks against Pikesville, recording the final out of the game on a hidden ball trick.

Sherwood, the pitcher, pretended to throw a pick-off attempt into center field and held onto the ball. He then ran down the tying run and applied the tag between second and third to preserve the 4-3 win.

“That didn’t really surprise me,” Irons said of the hidden ball trick. “Boonsboro several years back, they did the hidden ball trick to them. Over the years, I’ve kind of known they prepare for those situations and execute them well. That’s something we’ve prepped for as well.”

The Saints also scored their first run by bunting with the bases loaded in the second inning.

Allegany attempted a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded in the nightcap at McCurdy Field, though the bunt went foul.

Keys to the Game

“When you get into games like this, it really comes down to being able to handle the moment and play the style of baseball you’ve played all year,” Irons said. “Not get wrapped up by the environment.

“We’re just going to be us. If we go out and we’re us, we like our chances. Sometimes kids in high school can make it bigger than it is. We’ve been on a pretty good roll here. We do that, we’re in a pretty good spot.”