Six Innings

On a bone-chilling day like yesterday, the game of baseball demands much more mentally than on fairer weather days. So Centennial's Jonathan Dupski practiced a technique he learned last summer that enabled him to stay focused and pitch as though the weather were no factor. "Before every inning I went off by myself and just shut everything else out and focused on what I wanted to do," said Dupski, a senior left-hander and one of the county's top returning pitchers. The technique proved beneficial.

The No. 15 River Hill Hawks had been pecking away at No. 13 Eastern Tech for six innings in the Class 2A state baseball final at Ripken Stadium on Saturday, but aside from one run they had little to show for it. Then, with one out in the bottom of the seventh and still down a run, the Hawks took flight. They used a walk, two errors and two hits, the final one coming from junior center fielder Christian Laidley, who drove in starting pitcher Jeff Crosswhite with the winning run in the 3-2 victory.

Mount Hebron and Wilde Lake, two teams that have played inconsistent baseball much of the season, continued to play that way yesterday at Wilde Lake.But Mount Hebron right-hander Mike Cudzilo came through with a well-pitched game to offset three Vikings errors and an offense that produced only three hits through the first six innings.The Vikings' 8-2 victory over the Wildecats, however, kept them two games behind first-place Glenelg in the league standings, and still alive in the Class 2A, Region II playoff picture.

CLEVELAND -- This was Bob Milacki's "last time" game.You know, "last time he started a game," and "last time he won a game." Stuff like that.In the first game of yesterday's doubleheader here, Milacki updated his "last time" file by starting and winning a game for the first time in a long time as the Orioles beat the Indians 6-3.Milacki, who finishes the season with a record of 5-8, pitched seven solid innings, holding the Tribe scoreless on two hits....

A rough return: : Brian Burres returned from nearly a month of exile at Triple-A Norfolk and picked up where he left off - struggling on the mound in the major leagues. He allowed 10 hits and six runs (five earned) in five innings. His ERA is 5.79 Another fine homecoming: : White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, a Mount St. Joseph graduate, pitched well in his first outing against the Orioles in April (six innings, no earned runs) but didn't get a decision. This time, the 25-year-old right-hander from Severna Park made it count.

The Orioles insist they can play with anybody, and while that might sound good in theory, every few weeks the New York Yankees come around to provide a litmus test. In recent years, this has meant disaster for the Orioles. This year, they continue to hold their own against the four-time defending American League champs, including last night's 4-3 victory before 41,583 at Camden Yards. The Orioles sweated through six innings before deciding to turn up the heat with the score tied in the seventh.

Left-hander Rick Krivda pitched seven dominating innings and the Bowie Baysox scratched out a 2-1 victory over the Reading Phillies last night before 755 at Memorial Stadium.Krivda improved his record to 3-0, but not without another scare from the Bowie bullpen, which had blown three saves in the past week.Reliever Tommy Taylor lost the shutout in the eighth inning, but closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth ining. He got his second save.Krivda, from McKeesport, Pa., zipped through the Reading lineup twice without allowing a runner as far as second base.

NEW YORK -- It wasn't pitching that did the Orioles in this time.Fresh off a horror show in Detroit during which the Tigers scored 47 runs in three games, the Orioles got a strong effort from Jamie Moyer here last night. But despite several early opportunities against Jim Abbott, the Orioles were unable to provide any offensive support.The result was a complete game, eight-hit, 4-1 win for Abbott that extended the Orioles' losing streak to four, matching their longest winless streak of the season.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- It was the earliest that Gregg Olson had been waved in from the bullpen. He was not scheduled to pitch until the eighth inning, but he was called on to be the starter when Ben McDonald was scratched with a sore elbow just minutes before the game.Olson did not get much time to warm up, so he struggled briefly at the outset, but he retired the final eight batters he faced after giving up a run on two hits in the first inning. The Baltimore Orioles went on to lose, 5-4, to the Montreal Expos, but Olson was not involved in the decision.

Calvert Hall started quickly yesterday at No. 6 Mount St. Joseph. Five batters into the game, the Cardinals had three hits and four runs.And then they got hot.Top-ranked Calvert Hall battered three Mount St. Joseph pitchers for 13 hits, and John McKay tossed a three-hitter to give the Cardinals an 11-1 victory in a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game.Calvert Hall (20-2, 10-0) started the game hitting and never stopped. The Cardinals had at least two hits in five of the six innings -- the 10-run rule ended the game after six innings -- with four of them being for extra bases.