Gaithersburg Post 295's run to the its third Maryland State American Legion baseball tournament title in five years was fueled almost exclusively by the team's potent offensive attack. Until Tuesday's championship game, that is.
Yes, Post 295 (39-3 record) did manage to score 10 more runs - it produced 62 in five games during the tournament - forcing host Frederick Post 11 to use a good chunk of its pitching staff along the way. But Northwest High graduate Charlie Cononie delivered the team's best all-around performance on the mound to key Gaithersburg to a commanding 10-2 victory at McCurdy Field in Frederick.
Although it entered the tournament with a team earned-run average hovering around one run per contest, the Post 295 pitching staff was tagged for 31 runs during the team's first four games. But Cononie, a 6-foot-7 rising sophomore at Towson University, worked out of some early trouble - two on with two out in the first inning - and cruised the rest of the way while inducing 14 groundouts and three double plays to secure a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Region 2 tournament in Colonial Heights, Va., that runs from Aug. 14-18.
‘‘That's probably one of the biggest games I've pitched in my life,” said Cononie (9-0), who struck out six and threw 112 pitches in the nine-inning, complete-game effort. ‘‘I just felt good. I got a lot of support and I got a lot of groundballs ... and I got a lot of run support and that always helps. I'm thankful for my teammates.
‘‘My curveball was working good and then late in the game we relied more on spotting the fastball. The fastball was just running out and getting a lot of groundballs. It's a great honor to be the pitcher of record in the state championship game [but] it was a team effort.”
Cononie's good work came against a team that batted .326 and scored an average of 8.2 runs per game for the season.
After one inning of play, it looked like Tuesday's final would be a pitcher's duel as Frederick starter Frank Zier (8-2) sat down Post 295 with relative ease and Cononie worked out of his early jam with a strikeout. But just like it's been doing since opening the recently held Montgomery Division tournament with a 10-0 win against Cissel Saxon Post 41, Gaithersburg's bats pounded the opposition into submission.
After being retired on six pitches in the first inning, Post 295 jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on three hits and an error. Matt Civetti reached second base on a throwing error to start the inning and then scored on a single to shallow center field by Kevin Johnson.
Kyle Judson followed with a single to left field and after John Brauch struck out, Mike Ryan singled to left field to score Johnson for the two-run advantage.
‘‘Coach [Rick] Price works a lot on hitting,” said Civetti, who scored three runs Tuesday. ‘‘Every practice we have is all about hitting. It all pays off.”
Things got only worse for Frederick in the top of the third as Zier, who had 12 strikeouts in the team's 11-0 win over Pasadena Post 277 Friday, had to be removed after two outs and with two runners on because of arm issues. Judson then greeted relief pitcher Nick Meekins, who was named the tournament's best pitcher, with a single to left field to score Civetti, who had been hit by a pitch.
On the play, Johnson, who Zier walked before exiting, and Judson moved up to second and third as the relay throw to the plate sailed over the catcher's head. Brauch followed with a two-run single to shallow right field for the 5-0 advantage.
‘‘We basically tried to come and do our normal thing - pitch well, play defense well and hit,” said Johnson, who went 2 for 3 with three runs and two runs batted in Tuesday. ‘‘We just put all three of those together each game and we came out victorious.”
Frederick (37-12) broke through for a run in the bottom of the third inning as Meekins doubled, moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a groundout by Brent DeHaven to cut the deficit to 5-1. But Post 11 would muster just one more run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Cononie the rest of the way.
Post 295, however, scored one in the seventh on a solo home run by Jeff Flax and then tacked on four more in the top of the eighth on five hits and an error to essentially put the game away at 10-1. Johnson tripled in Civetti to get things going in the eighth and later scored on an error.
Ryan, the tournament's most valuable player and top hitter, and Nick Loftus concluded the four-run inning with a run-scoring double and a sacrifice fly to center, respectively.
‘‘This is awesome,” said Ryan, who batted nearly .600 for the tournament and went 3 for 4 with two RBI Tuesday. ‘‘It's a great feeling. Now we'll get ready for regionals.”
Gaithersburg, which won state titles in 2003 and '04, will join two Virginia teams, and the state winners from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia at regionals. Post 295 will open Thursday, Aug. 14 against the Pennsylvania champion in the second game of four scheduled that day. The regional winner moves on to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C. beginning Aug. 21.
