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Tournament title appears up for grabs

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Johnny Simon⁄the gazette First baseman Kevin Keith (left) and Damascus faced Matt Kaler (right) and Bethesda in the first round of the county’s legion baseball tournament Tuesday.

‘‘Obviously, we wanted to be the first seed,” he said. ‘‘You always want to be that regardless but I think Bethesda appears to be the hottest team with a lot of momentum so I’m content with having Damascus playing them in the first round.”

For the first time in several years, Bethesda Post 105 has reached postseason play and it did so by sweeping its final five opponents to squeeze past Laurel Post 60 (13-14) and Rockville Post 86 (13-14 record) with a 15-13 mark in league play.

Included in its late-season run was a doubleheader sweep last Friday of Post 104 (18-10) and third-seeded Gaithersburg Post 295 (20-11 overall, 18-10 Montgomery League). Post 105 also scored a win over Pasadena Post 277, the four-time Anne Arundel County champions, last weekend.

The University of Richmond-bound Will Hanlon, Mike Sweeney, who hit .632 and had a 6-1 pitching record for St. Anselm’s (D.C.) this past spring, and Dan DiMarco are the team’s top players. Hanlon, a lefty hurler, was to start Tuesday against top-seeded Damascus Post 171 at Shirley Povich Field in the first round of the county tournament.

‘‘I’m really happy about it,” said Post 105 manager Mike Naas, whose program last won the county tournament title in 1994. ‘‘The players, I have to give them the credit. They pulled together as a team and did it. We went 1-7 [to start the season] and we’ve been gradually getting better and better.

‘‘I think our chances are very, very good. I think we’re going to win. Right now, we’re playing the best baseball in the county.”

Damascus Post 171, which secured first place with a 20-8 league mark (26-9 overall), would beg to differ with that assessment as the perennial county contender captured its final four games, including one each against the other three playoff squads.

Helping the team’s chances, besides a potent offensive attack that compiled a .336 batting average and 22 home runs, is its freshness. Post 171 hasn’t played since defeating Bethesda last Thursday.

‘‘What I try to do is load up at the beginning of the season and try to have the tail end for make-ups or rest,” said Damascus manager Kenny Keith, whose squad lost two of three games to Post 295 and Post 104, but swept three games from Post 105 this summer. ‘‘I think that’s going to play into our hands. Our pitchers are rested.”

Leading the team’s deep staff are Nick Franceski and left-hander Brian Moran, who compiled earned-run averages of 1.67 and 3.50, respectively. The team’s strength, however, lies in its offense, which is led by center fielder Kevin Keith, who hit .394 with 11 home runs, 12 doubles, 42 runs scored and 53 runs batted in.

Blake Beaudoin (.398, 36 runs), Austin Bernardo (.298, 18 RBI), Eric Berringer (.361, 13 RBI), Daniel Liscinsky (.340, 2 HR, 16 RBI), George Papuchis (.329, 5 HR, 16 RBI), Carter Willson (.400, 30 RBI) and Moran (.325, 24 RBI) round out the rest of the team’s explosive attack.

‘‘If we hit the ball like we’re capable and we play solid defense, our pitching is strong enough, I think we can win it all,” Kenny Keith said. ‘‘I don’t have any doubt in my mind but if we falter and we don’t hit or make three to four errors, we’re going to lose.”

Post 104 vs. Post 295

The bragging rights as Gaithersburg’s best American Legion team has been settled in the tournament championship the past two years with Post 295 besting Post 104 by a 15-5 score in 2004 and through scores of 7-5 and 13-3 a year ago.

Post 295, in fact, has won three straight county titles and two of the last three Maryland State American Legion crowns as well but Post 104 took two of three from its rival this summer and Post 295 doesn’t have quite the firepower it had during that impressive three-year run.

Not to mention, Post 295 will be without the services of center fielder Kevin Collins, the team’s No. 3 batter who will have season-ending shoulder surgery now in the hopes of being ready to play at Towson University next year. Collins batted .349 with 30 runs scored, 21 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

‘‘That’s old news,” Post 295 coach Rick Price said of his team’s three straight county championships. ‘‘We have so many new guys we’re going to have to do it a different way. We have a few left that remember that but we have quite a new team.”

Those mainstays include Mike Celenza, the Gazette Player of the Year, who led Post 295 at the plate (.444, 4 HR, 44 RBI) and on the mound (5-0, 1 save, 1.44 ERA).

The team’s other key players are Matt Filderman (.378, 19 RBI), Kevin Johnson (.346, 12 RBI), Kyle Judson (.345, 18 RBI), Eric Weller (.317, 13 RBI), Brett Fox (4-3, 2.72 ERA) and John Brauch (3-1, 3.86 ERA).

‘‘We’ve got to play infield defense,” Price said. ‘‘Our pitching has been wonderful and we’ve hit from time to time but we need to tighten up our infield defense.”

Price’s squad will do battle against a Post 104 squad that run roughshod over the competition for the first half or so of the season but has slipped back to the pack in recent weeks.

Post 104 still employs one of the best all-around squads in the state that features ace pitcher Mike Allred (6-0, 1 save, 0.62 ERA) and outfielder Alex Bastow (.311, 2 HR, 19 RBI).

‘‘We’re happy,” Stolz said. ‘‘We have our pitching planned and we have pretty good chance to win it but anything can happen. I think we need to play good defense. If you play good defense, obviously, you don’t have to score as many runs.

‘‘Damascus, they’re strength is hitting. Our strength, I think, is our pitching. If we play good defense, I think we’ll do real well.”

Besides Allred, Post 104’s pitching staff is anchored by Bobby Kim (3-2, 4.67 ERA) and Dennis Schoonmaker (2-0, 1.58 ERA). Offensively, Kim (.369, 2 HR, 10 RBI), Mitch Levine (.313, 2 HR, 8 RBI), Ian Marshall (.326), Wes Shifflet (.302, 11 RBI) and Rick Phillips (.260, 2 HR, 19 RBI) have paved the way.

Marshall recently returned from vacation and Steve Delmar, who had a two-run single and threw out the potential tying run at the plate in his team’s win over Post 295 last week, has returned to full-time action after concentrating on his golf game this summer.

No. 1 Damascus Post 171Record: 26-9 overall, 20-8 in leagueLast county tournament title: 2000Hitters to watch: Kevin Keith (.394, 11 HR, 53 RBI), George Papuchis (.329, 5 HR, 16 RBI), Blake Beaudoin (.398, 12 RBI)Pitchers to watch: Nick Franceski (1.67 ERA), Brian Moran (3.50 ERA)

No. 2 Gaithersburg Post 104Record: 18-10 overall, 18-10 in leagueLast county tournament title: 2001Hitters to watch: Alex Bastow (.311, 2 HR, 19 RBI), Bobby Kim (.369, 2 HR, 10 RBI), Mitch Levine (.313, 2 HR, 8 RBI)Pitchers to watch: Mike Allred (6-0, 0.62 ERA), Bobby Kim (3-2, 4.67 ERA), Dennis Schoonmaker (2-0, 1.58 ERA)

No. 3 Gaithersburg Post 295Record: 20-11 overall, 18-10 in leagueLast county tournament title: 2005Hitters to watch: Mike Celenza (.444, 4 HR, 44 RBI), Matt Filderman (.378, 19 RBI), Kevin Johnson (.346, 21 RBI)Pitchers to watch: Mike Celenza (5-0, 1.44 ERA), Brett Fox (4-3, 2.72 ERA), John Brauch (3-1, 3.86)

No. 4 Bethesda Post 105Record: 15-13 overall, 15-13 in leagueLast county tournament title: 1994Hitters to watch: Will Hanlon, Mike SweeneyPitchers to watch: Will Hanlon, Mike Sweeney, Dan DiMarco