Written by Erin Hughes

The Metro South County Braves took down the Gaithersburg Giants 10-9 in a power hitting matchup in South County on Wednesday night. The teams combined for four home runs, 22 hits, and three lead changes on the evening.

With such a back and forth game, Braves head coach Chris Warren said the message to his players was to “just stay with it.” Coach Warren said, “it’s not like we haven’t been in that situation before…so it’s nothing new. The thing was to just keep it together, put together good at bats, square baseballs up, and we’ll get through.”

Braves pitcher Dylan McCarthy (William & Mary) made quick work of the first two batters, as the leadoff man for the Giants popped up to the catcher on the first pitch and he struck the next batter out swinging. Collin Hughes (VCU) roped a two out double down the right field line before an RBI single from Magnus Krieger (Seton Hall) drove him in. An error by the Braves moved Krieger over to second and put Brady Ruiz-Weiss on first. Zach White (Louisiana-Monroe) dropped a single to plate Kreiger, and Ruiz-Weiss quickly stole third. A double steal from the Giants saw White take second and Ruiz-Weiss come home to post an early 3-0 lead. The final batter flew out to left to end the inning 

In the bottom of the inning, Trent Adelman (VCU) hit an infield single to get on base but was caught stealing by catcher White. Reigning CRSCBL hitter of the week Nich Francuzenko (Towson) reached base on an error but was stranded after a lineout to the second baseman.

Harrison Helton (Houston Christian) walked to start off the bottom of the inning before Kyndall Cassidy (Ouachita Baptist) knocked a first pitch single to put runners on early for the Braves. Tony DiChiara (Monmouth) popped up to the second baseman before Rhodes loaded the bases with an error by the centerfielder. Michael Lavanga (Harford CC) lined out to second, but Sam Grube (Mt. Saint Mary’s) drew a four pitch walk to bring home Helton. Adelman was hit by a pitch to plate Cassidy and Francuzenko tapped a two-run single to give the Braves a 4-3 lead.

With the Braves now in control, Hughes crushed a leadoff home run to tie the game up at 4, and Krieger singled immediately after. Ruiz-Weiss dropped in another single that moved Krieger into scoring position. White singled to score Krieger and move Ruiz-Weiss over to second. A wild pitch allowed Ruiz-Weiss to take third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly from Bryce Rudisill (Mt. St. Mary’s). Michael Contiliano (Seton Hall) singled and White moved over to second before the Braves turned to Colin Miller (Shenandoah) to relieve McCarthy. Miller retired the next batter with a flyout to left field, but the Giants led 6-4. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Lavanga knocked a leadoff single down the left field line and stole second shortly after. Grube followed suit with a single of his own. Adelman grounded into a double play to get Grube out but scored Lavanga to bring the Braves within one, down 6-5.

A leadoff home run from Charlie Magoulick (Rider) in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at six. The next batter was retired before Cassidy was walked to get on base. DiChiara added another home run to put the Braves up 8-6. 

Looking to respond in the sixth, Contiliano drew a leadoff walk to get on base before Giants outfielder Jayden Brown (Ranger College) mashed the fourth combined home run of the day to knot the score at 8. Diaz was hit by a pitch and Hughes walked to put more runners on, but a double play erased Hughes and put two outs on the board. Ruiz-Weiss flew out to center to end the top of the inning.

Adelman was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. Francuzenko hit into a fielder’s choice to advance Adelman to third and a sacrifice fly from Nate Dudeck (Fairleigh Dickinson) scored him. Helton struck out looking to end the inning, but not before the Braves reclaimed the lead 9-8.

To start the bottom of the eighth, Adelman reached on a popup infield single that dropped between all of the Giants infielders. Francuzenko advanced Adelman to second with a fielder’s choice before Giants pitcher Aidan Carey (George Washington) fanned a batter. Helton tapped a seeing eye single up the middle of the infield that scored Adelman. Carey retired the final batter with a looking strikeout. 

The Braves turned to pitcher Tyler Kelly (William & Mary) to finish off the game and he got the first batter he faced to ground out to second. Joey Nicholson (Gaston College) drew a pinch hit walk before a single from Ruiz-Weiss took him all the way to third. White grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Nicholson, putting Ruiz-Weiss on second and bringing a bit of life back to the Giants dugout. Rudisill reached on an error by the first baseman and put Ruiz-Weiss at third. Rudisill’s steal of second got both runners in scoring position before Marino took a four pitch walk to load the bases. After a meeting on the mound, Kelly retired the final batter with a flyout to left field. 

Magoulick and DiChiara posted both of the Braves home runs in the contest. Coach Warren said Magoulick “has put a lot of good at bats together so far this season, so it was really good to see some pop tonight. With DiChiara, Warren said, “it’s the first time he found pop, and he had really good at bats leading up to that, so he was just able to get a really good pitch to turn on.”

Karpitas was the star of the Braves pitching staff tonight, going six up, six down in 2.0 innings. When asked about what he saw from the right-hander tonight, Warren said, “it was interesting because he didn’t get a chance to pitch a lot in college, but what we saw from him tonight - he’s got some really good stuff, and I think he’s got a chance to be a legitimate two-way player for us.”