Roosevelt fends off Friendly for county title

The Patriots were playing their third game in as many days and snapped Gwynn Park's 11-year stranglehold on the County 3A⁄2A⁄1A League title when they beat the Yellow Jackets on Monday. They took advantage of seven Roosevelt errors to keep the Raiders on their toes.

‘‘It's a good win,” said Roosevelt coach Andrew Capece. ‘‘But we realized that we made some mistakes that could cost us as we head into the playoffs.”

The County 4A League-champion Raiders put up 10 runs in the first inning and one more in the second to lead 11-1 before Capece pulled most of his starters. They scored runs bit by bit, sending players home on a series of walks and base hits.

Senior second baseman Mike Kerdock, the only starter to go the distance, went 3 for 4 with two runs batted in. Pitcher Jeremy Adams went three innings, allowing two hits and no earned runs, and relievers Angel Martinez and Chris Roy preserved the win.

Top-seeded Roosevelt will host the winner of Friday's Bladensburg- Charles H. Flowers game in the 4A South quarterfinals Monday. Friendly will host Westlake or Crossland in the 3A South Region quarterfinals that same day.

Jayson Barnes started for the Patriots, although he and catcher Ramsey Williams alternated positions each inning the rest of the game. They shut out the Raiders' reserves for two innings before Roosevelt's two-run fifth inning put the mercy rule in effect.

Barnes was 2 for 3 with an RBI. He also beat out the Raiders' infielders in a farcical rundown between first and second base in the fifth inning. Martinez caught him taking a big lead off first and threw to second. Barnes changed direction three times and the Raiders made an errant throw, which allowed Barnes to slide into second safely and Sean Thompson to score from third. Capece said the Patriots' sharpness on the base paths may have surprised his team. First-year Friendly coach Charles Pickard said his team did its best not to be intimidated by the defending Class 4A state champions.

‘‘You know you don't have the firepower that Roosevelt does,” Pickard said. ‘‘But you've got to make the best with what you've got and take it like you do have the firepower.”

Friendly was particularly short of power Wednesday and will be the rest of the season. Pickard said starting senior shortstop Anthony Pearson left the team after the Patriots' loss to Laurel on Tuesday.

But Alexander Perry, usually Friendly's centerfielder, was a solid replacement against the Raiders. In the fifth inning he leaped to snag a line drive from Mitch Kempisty that likely would have ended the game right then. Instead he and the Patriots made the Raiders work for their win.

‘‘This team has good heart, good spirit, and if we keep it going I think we can go far,” Perry said.

E-mail Kevin Hilgers at khilgers@gazette.net.