May 21, 1995|By Glenn P. Graham | Glenn P. Graham,Sun Staff Writer
GERMANTOWN -- Tim Jackman's single in the seventh inning made it official.
Everyone in South Carroll's lineup contributed in one way or another yesterday afternoon against Seneca Valley.
tTC From Todd Henry's 3-for-4 performance with three runs scored to Jason Petroski's perfect sacrifice bunt, everyone played a role.
Add in some near-flawless defense, a solid day on the mound from three pitchers and aggressive base-running and the 10th-ranked Cavaliers had themselves a 10-4 win over the Screaming Eagles (11-6) in the Class 3A West region semifinal.
The Cavaliers (15-6) advance to the region finals tomorrow at 4 p.m. where they will play host to Bethesda-Chevy Chase, a 12-4 winner over Paint Branch in yesterday's other semifinal.
Of the 11 hits third-seeded South Carroll pounded out on the day, there was a bloop to center and a roller to short. The rest were line drives that left Seneca Valley starter Ryan Miyamoto shaking his head.
By the time reliever Casey Theberge came in with two on and two out in the top of the third, the Cavaliers had built a 5-1 lead.
Leadoff hitter Bryan Herche (2-for-4, two runs scored, one RBI) greeted Theberge with a run-scoring single.
"It's the playoffs and we need the guys hitting at the bottom of the lineup to come through," said Henry, who hits sixth in the Cavs' lineup.
"We got the good pitching, too. It was a great effort from everybody."
The Cavaliers' big inning came in the second with the score tied at 1.
Henry beat out the soft grounder to short to get things started. After Petroski bunted him over to second, Jackman reached on an infield error. Gibson lined a single to right to load the bases.
Herche's liner to right scored Henry and Ron White followed with another single to score two more. Jeremy Hancock's ground out scored Herche to give the Cavs the 5-1 lead.
After the Cavaliers stayed on top of Seneca Valley with a single run in the third and two each in the fourth and seventh to give pitchers Kile Maxcy, White and Zach Hollman some cushion when the Screaming Eagles tried to rally late.
"We have a tendency to over-swing sometimes, but today we were focused on putting the ball in play. It was good to see that kind of hitting," said Cavaliers coach Brad Collins.
After scoring three times in the fourth to cut South Carroll's lead to 8-4, Seneca Valley left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh.
White, who replaced Maxcy in the middle of the fourth got out of the jam in the sixth and Hollman pitched the scoreless seventh.
"We got everybody to do what they needed to do. We know what we have at the top of the lineup, but the bottom of the lineup got the hits when we needed it," Collins said.
"It was also good to get the three pitchers in so the nervousness is gone."
