Fallston had hit only four home runs going into yesterday's Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship game at Harford Community College, and right-hander Chris Merrick had been brilliant in posting an 8-0 record and striking out 55 batters in 50 innings.
Merrick started yesterday and admittedly didn't have his best stuff. But the No. 6-ranked Cougars (16-3) bailed him out, coming from behind to nip Havre de Grace, 6-5, while matching their season total for long balls.
The title was Fallston's third in four years in Harford County.
Kevin Conner's two-out homer in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Chris Pasley (6-3) brought down the curtain in a game that saw Havre de Grace jump out to a 4-0 lead. It was the Cougars' fourth home run of the game.
Havre de Grace had tied the score at 5 in the top half of the ninth as Sam Spooner raced home on an outfield error.
Fallston third baseman Adam Tress hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score at 4. His blast came after a two-run shot by Scott Tolliver started a three-run outburst that chased Warriors starter left-hander Cody Holliday.
The homers erased the Warriors' 4-0 lead and gave the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Merrick his ninth win without a loss.
"I did everything the same in warm-ups, but when I got out there, I couldn't get a feel for the mound and was uncomfortable," said Merrick, who gave up six of his nine hits in the first three innings as Havre de Grace scored twice in both the second and third innings.
Matt Strong knocked in three of the runs for the Warriors (15-3).
