14U Pasadena Eagles Erupt For 21 Runs, Sweep Double-Header

By Colin Murphy

The 14U Pasadena Eagles exploded for 21 runs in a double-header sweep of visiting Putty Hill at Northeast High School on June 8 to improve to 9-3 in the Baltimore Metro Baseball Sophomore 14U Division. This year’s team adds several new players to a group that has experienced great success in recent years; the Eagles won the 2007 BMB 10U Championship, 2008 MD 11U State Championship, 2009 BMB 12U Championship, and they finished 2010 with a solid 21-6 record.

Head Coach Archie Carr has seen his mixture of newcomers and veterans gel quickly by playing smart, fundamentally sound baseball so far this season. “We’re not big, we’re not strong, but we make plays,” said Carr of his team. “They’re out here to have fun, and having fun and doing the fundamentals wins baseball games.”

The 14U Eagles’ fundamentally strong play was on full display against Putty Hill. Showing discipline at the plate and getting key outs at important moments from their pitchers and defense, the Eagles overmatched the Panthers in all facets of the game. In the first contest, Pasadena held Putty Hill scoreless in the first three innings on the strength of excellent starting pitching from Joe Shuey, whose curveball and crafty knuckleball kept Panther batters off-balanced.

After the first trip through the lineup yielded no runs, the Eagle offense broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. Jon Lane and Andrew Wink led off the inning with back-to-back triples, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. After Ben Miller walked, a single by David Garland pushed the lead to 2-0. A single by Jimmy Cassidy and a double by Pat Blum followed, extending the lead to 4-0. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Blum scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Smith. Jordan Carr walked and Lane reached on an error, and Wink continued the rally with his second hit of the inning, this time an RBI double. Miller followed with a two-RBI triple, and the Eagles completed a nine-run fourth inning to blow the game wide open.

A combined five shutout innings of pitching from Shuey, Garland, and Carr and stellar defense from Smith, Cassidy, Blum, Ryan Gruss, and Logan Ridgeway kept Putty Hill off the scoreboard. In the fifth inning, Justin Snyder walked and scored on a single by Carr to end the game by mercy rule, 10-0.

“We pitched well, played good defense, and hit the ball when we needed to,” said Snyder, providing the simple formula the Eagles have employed in a successful start to the season. Coach Carr agreed and emphasized that the Eagles’ balanced attack on the field mirrors the well-rounded nature of each player off the field. “Go around the horn right now and every kid has a GPA up around 3.5,” said Carr. “And they’re the ones that make this happen. The coaches can lead them in the right direction, but they have to want to do it.”

In the second game, pitchers Cassidy and Wink combined for five shutout innings, and a towering grand-slam home run over the left field fence by Garland powered the Eagles to an 11-0 victory.

“Solid win. Took us a few innings, but we started hitting the ball,” said Cassidy after the first game, adding that the team continues to improve and build confidence with each passing day. “We’re improving. We’re laid back, but we know what we need to do and we’re pretty experienced. We do all the work, and I’d say it shows.”

Coach Carr is likewise sure that his players are having fun, staying focused, working hard, and always delivering their best effort. “Great group of kids. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said.