Prince George's Wins Region 20 DIII Baseball Title
courtesy Prince George's Community College
Prince George's baseball won the Region 20 Division III championship with an 8-3 game three victory over Community College of Allegheny County on Saturday, May 6. The Owls took the series, 2-1, and will represent the Region in the Mid-Atlantic District Championship.
After splitting the first two games on Friday afternoon 5-1 and 2-3, the Owls once again hosted the Wild Cats for a final game on Saturday to determine a Region 20 winner with a shot at keeping their season alive. With complete games pitched by Colin Jackson and Jacob Jewett less than 24 hours prior, first year Owls head coach Jordan Martinez turned to freshman Kyree Clark to start on the mound.
After two scoreless innings the Wild Cats Jonathan Medina capitalized with bases loaded, sending a 2-run single up the middle to put his team out in front with another man in scoring position. A passed ball from Owls followed by a balk from Clark earned the Wild Cats another run in the bottom of the third and appeared as if it could soon become a bullpen game for Prince George's at that point. Clark was able to get out of the inning and quickly had a three-up, three-down fourth when the Owls exploded for six runs in the fifth inning to jump in front, 6-3.
Elias Nurideen opened the 5th with a single as the Owls batted through their order during the inning, picking up 7 hits along the way to swing all the momentum in their favor. Harley Carney, Santiago Jimenez, Oxswen Cotto (2), Jose Alvarez, and Bryan Avila all picked up at least one RBI during the run for the Owls. Cotto added his third RBI of the day in the 7th with a solo homerun.
Clark wound up throwing seven innings for Prince George's before being relieved by Jaisal Kapoor in the eighth with two men on base. Kapoor struck out two batters and had one pop up to second to get Prince George's out of a pinch with the bases loaded to head into the final inning in control, 7-3. The Owls added one more to take a 5-run lead into the final half inning before their defense held strong to get the last three outs to win the Region for Prince George's.
With the victory the Owls avenged their earlier losses this season on the road to CCAC in which they were swept, 17-3 and 1-0. Prince George's now awaits the winner of the Region 10 Championship held on Sunday, May 7th to find out who they will face in Districts. Region 10, located in North Carolina, will host the Owls for a best-of-three series from May 19-20 for a bid to the NJCAA DIII World Series at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tennessee from May 27-June 1.