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104 races to a 9-1 start

Comeback win over Post 136 solidifies spot atop league

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Normand A. Bernache⁄Special to the Gazette Gaithersburg Post 104 hurler Mike Allred threw his second complete game of the summer Sunday in a 3-1 win over Greenbelt, improving to 3-0.

‘‘No matter who you put on the field, they’re a good player,” Stolz said.

That influx of strong players has translated into the best start of any Montgomery County team so far this season. Post 104 concluded last weekend with a 9-1 mark after Sunday’s come-from-behind 3-1 victory against host Greenbelt Post 136 in Riverdale.

‘‘Obviously, we have a lot of good players,” said Stolz, whose squad also had the services of slugger Matt Sweeney to start the season before he signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. ‘‘They’re a good bunch of kids. All you have to do is pick nine and send them on the field, and they do all the work.”

Allred, who pitched for Montgomery College-Rockville this spring, was the big story Sunday, firing his second complete game of the season to improve to 3-0 while lowering his earned-run average to 0.90 in 23 2⁄3 innings. He also boasts a pair of saves.

‘‘I’d say, right now, he’s our best pitcher,” Stolz said.

Allred, using a good mix of pitches, limited Post 136 (8-8 overall, 6-3 in the Frank Riley League) to one unearned run on six hits in his seven innings of work. That lone run came in the bottom of the first on a dropped fly ball by James MacArthur in left field.

‘‘I just tried to throw strikes and get groundballs and let my defense do most of the work for me,” said Allred, who induced eight groundball outs, including three double plays. ‘‘I just try to mix it up to keep them off-balance — change-ups, curveballs. My change-up wasn’t working earlier in the game, but the last inning, the last batter, I threw two change-ups. He swung and missed once, and I got the last out of the game. My slider was working pretty well all day, getting guys out on their front foot, getting groundballs and fly outs.”

Post 104 had an equally difficult time against Greenbelt left-hander Brandon Browne, but after a double by center fielder Alex Bastow (.385, 10 RBI this summer), Gaithersburg took advantage of some miscues by Post 136.

With Bastow on second, second baseman Mitch Levine stroked a groundball to third baseman Mike Perez. The ball took a bad hop in front of Perez and bounced off his chest to allow Levine to reach safely.

Catcher Rick Phillips (.250, 7 RBI) then attempted a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, but Browne threw well wide of first base, allowing both Bastow and Levine to score for a 2-1 advantage. Phillips reached third on the play, taking advantage of the field’s spacious foul territory, and then scored on a single by shortstop Bobby Kim (.300) for what would become the final score.

‘‘We’re playing really well as a team,” Kim said. ‘‘That one loss [a 3-2 setback to Rockville Post 86 June 6], I guess we weren’t focused.”

Post 104 had a chance to build its lead in the top of the seventh on a two-out, two-on single by Peter Barrett (.421, 11 RBI), but Hurd thought the ball was caught and stopped running midway between third base and home plate and was eventually tagged out.

Allred allowed a single to lead off the seventh inning but induced a double play and a groundball to end the game.

Notes: Post 104 has already begun separating itself from its main competition for the top seed in the end-of-season county tournament. Gaithersburg owns two wins over Damascus Post 171 by the scores of 3-1 and 6-5. It also pounded three-time defending county champion Gaithersburg Post 295, 14-4. ... Post 104’s game against Laurel Tuesday evening ended too late to be included in this edition.