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Legion ekes out win on catcher’s balk
Friday, July 18, 2008
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
Calvert’s Jesse Reid, who was 2 for 2, slams a third inning triple.
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With the score tied at 3, Calvert’s Eric Gronbeck doubled to lead off the seventh inning and advanced to third on Nick Sydnor’s groundout.
Mayo elected to intentionally walk Colin Brown. But, when the fourth pitch had been thrown, the home plate umpire called a catcher’s balk on Ben Henry and Gronbeck was awarded home plate.
A catcher’s balk is called if the catcher does not remain in the batter’s box until the moment the pitcher throws the ball.
‘‘Unfortunately [for Mayo] it was the right call,” Calvert coach Tom Sydnor said. ‘‘He can’t go out [of the box] and camp out like they were doing. That’s one of the reasons I never [issue an intentional walk], because we never practice those. I would have rather them given a warning, so we could keep playing, but on the flipside, if I’m an umpire, by this time I don’t give any warnings or second chances because this is Legion ball. Most of these kids have good experience in high school and some in college.”
‘‘I’ve lost in a lot of ways, but not like this,” said Mayo Post 7 coach Brent Alexander, who is also an assistant baseball coach at South River High School. ‘‘The batter’s box was kind of faded out there, and I [noticed the infraction] a couple pitches before. I was trying to warn [Henry], but I guess the umpire finally decided he’d had enough. Losing a game like this at this level that way is tough.”
Calvert pitcher Brian Lusby, a rising senior at Huntingtown High School, added: ‘‘I’ve never seen a game end with a balk, so I was pretty shocked. I think they were, too.”
Sydnor’s groundout earlier in the inning also produced a rarely-seen event when his aluminum bat cracked on his chopper to second.
‘‘I thought I got it right on the sweet spot, so I definitely thought it was going to go farther than it did,” said Sydnor, a rising sophomore at Stevenson University. ‘‘I don’t know how it shattered. I’m going to try and send it back to get a new one.”
Calvert (16-11, 13-9 Frank Riley League) has won its last two games after a five-game losing skid. Calvert ended its regular season yesterday with a road game against La Plata. That game ended too late for inclusion in this edition.
Calvert began its season by winning 12 of its first 16 games, but then went 3-7 before wins over Bowie and Mayo.
‘‘I would have said it was outstanding,” Tom Sydnor said of his reaction to the first and second halves of the season. ‘‘Now I’m disappointed.”
‘‘We went through that stretch where we did real poorly,” Nick Sydnor said, ‘‘so it’s good to end the season on a high note.”
Alexander said he’s proud of his team despite its 12-17 record.
‘‘I wish I won more of course, but one of the most important things is to make each player and program better,” said Alexander, whose team went to extra innings 10 times. ‘‘Every player played two innings and batted twice every game. You sacrifice some things doing that, but for the most part we were competitive every game. These guys will be a year older next year and we’ll only lose two or three players, so probably we can turn that record around next year.”
Pitcher Matt Beck delivered five innings of two-hit ball. Beck, struck out seven and walked three.
‘‘I just came out here and had fun and did my job,” said Beck, who will attend Wor-Wic Community College in the fall but plans to transfer to Salisbury University in the spring. ‘‘I usually went to the slider, because I noticed they were just whiffing at that.”
Mayo starter Kyle Shirkey was up to the task, as he allowed two hits and three walks in five innings.
‘‘He was able to throw two good curveballs and keep them off-speed,” Alexander said of Shirkey, a rising senior at Southern High School. ‘‘He’s got a lot to look forward to.”
Calvert opened the scoring in the third when Jesse Reid tripled and later scored on an error. Reid was 2 for 2 in the game and reached base three times.Mayo came right back to take the lead in the fourth on Sean Hart’s two-out single to center.
Calvert regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Beck and a bases-loaded walk by John McIntosh.
‘‘I’m playing in a [22-U] wood bat league,” Beck said, ‘‘so to get up there and just smack it with an aluminum bat felt amazing.”
Mayo tied it in the top of the seventh on Tom Van Horn’s two-strike, two-out single.
‘‘I hung a slider in the strike zone,” Lusby said.
