March 2009 Archives

SILVER SPRING - - On Opening Day for Blair baseball, Peirce Marston pitched a complete game shutout, defeating the Richard Montgomery Rockets 3-0. Marston threw 112 pitches, and some worried that his high pitch count might affect him adversely for the rest of the season. It seems he put those worries to rest Monday night.

The sophomore pitched his second complete game in as many starts as the Blazers cruised to a 11-2 victory over the visiting Blake Bengals. The Blazers are now 3-0 at home.

Marston struggled a little in the first inning, but made easy work of Blake for the rest of the game. The sophomore walked two Bengals in the first, who later scored on a Jimmy Smith single. The Blazers answered quickly in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on an Alex Egber double.

The double came on the 11th pitch of the at-bat, and Egber now has a double in each of the Blazers' first four games.

"It was one of the longest at-bats I've ever had," he said. "I was having trouble squaring it up, and the pitch came in and it was down and away, and I just kind of threw my bat at it, and squared it up and got it to the gap."

From that point on, the Blazers' offense took over, scoring six runs (four earned) in two innings against Blake starter David Hudson. The Blazers scored one more run against reliever Austin Maler, and four runs in two innings against Tommy Cunningham, who made the Maryland pre-season All-State squad.

Marston ran into a little trouble in the sixth inning, loading the bases on a hit batter and two singles with no outs. The sophomore, with ice in his veins, struck out Smith, and then froze catcher Brian Battaglia looking on a wicked curveball. Second baseman Taylor Miller lined out to left to end the threat and the inning.

"In that inning, it's not like I walked the bases loaded," Marston said. "I can't really control [some of the hits]. So, I just thought bear down, throw strikes, and if you get three outs, that's great."

Marston improved to 2-0 on the season, and the opening day starter reduced his pitch count by 15, to 97.

"I think [Marston's complete game] is huge," coach John MacDonald said. "Because we've got 7 games in the next 9 days, and he doesn't have to throw again until Monday, so he gets another week's rest. That was a pretty good team we just beat, and after a shaky first inning I thought he did a great job, he was real efficient with his pitching. He's still struggling on 0-2 counts, but he'll get better at that."

Egber continued his tear at the plate of late. The junior was 2-4, improving his batting average on the season to .500. Egber also threw out Blake shortstop Jake Lorber attempting to steal, the third time he has thrown out an opposing runner this season.

"He got four RBIs today, and he's leading the team in that category," MacDonald said. "He's just coming into his own. I think his first two years here, he was full of promise, but his freshman year his arm hurt, his sophomore year he missed a bunch of games. I never thought he was over his head, but you can see in his body that he's coming into his own; he's calm, he's confident. And just as important, he's thrown out all those runners, which really keeps a team down if you do that early."

Lorber led off the top of the third inning with a single, and first baseman Cody Acker was given the bunt sign. Acker missed the bunt, and Lorber was hung out to dry between first and second base. Egber stood up and ran towards Lorber, forcing him to make the decision. Lorber bolted for second, and Egber made the perfect throw to record the first out of the inning.

"I saw, after the missed bunt, he was off balance and pretty much in no-man's land," Egber said. "And whether he went back to first or went to second, I was gonna have a shot at him, so he went to second and I made a good throw to get him."

Blair center fielder Lucas Babinec went 3-5 on the night with three runs, improving his batting average on the year to .500. Right fielder Neil Corran scored three runs on the night, and had two walks and a single. This game was the first of three games in a row for the Blazers.

"Well, I thought we played really well," Corran said. "And it's nice to play really well against a quality opponent. The only other really good team that we played against this year is Damascus, and we played horribly against them, so hopefully we can keep it up for the next two days, because we've got two more quality opponents coming up. When you start off with a win, like tonight, you start getting a little more momentum, so hopefully we can just carry on the momentum into tomorrow."

Egber and MacDonald echoed Corran's testament of how important this win was for the team's success in the upcoming games.

"This is great for our confidence," Egber said. "Blake is a very good team, and to beat them how we beat them should definitely give us a lot of confidence going in to these next two games against tough games."

The win marked the first time that Blair baseball beat the Bengals. Blake High School was built in 1998.

"I think the win is huge to start it off," MacDonald said. "And as far as how hard it's gonna be, we have seven pitchers. And we have six left for the next two days, so I think we're in better shape than most teams that have to do the same thing, and I think a lot of teams that don't go seven-deep are gonna have a hard time."

Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry over into a victory tonight. The Blazers lost today against a very good Quince Orchard team, 2-1, in a game that I was unable to attend. Blair starting pitcher Sammy Denenberg threw five scoreless innings, but the Cougars, one of the top teams in the county, were able to rally back for the win. The Blazers play tomorrow, April 1st, at Magruder. The game is scheduled for 3:30 PM.

Blake

Lorber SS 1-4
Acker 1B 1-2 BB HBP R
Cunningham 3B 1-2 BB R
Swartz DH 0-2
Smith RF 2-3 2B 2RBIs
Battaglia C 1-3 1B
Miller 2B 0-3
Schmidt CF 2-3 2B
Shannon LF 0-3

Hostetter 3B 1-1

Hudson 2 IP 6 H 6 R (4 ER) 2 BB 1 SO
Malner 2 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 3 SO 1 HB
Cunningham 2 IP 4 H 4 ER 3 BB 1 SO 1 HB

Blair

Babinec CF 3-5 3Rs RBI
Corran RF 1-3 2BBs 2Rs
Ettinger 3B 2-3 RBI 2HBPs
Egber C 2-4 2B 4RBIs
Fegley 2B 0-4
Gordon 1B 0-2 2BBs
Denenberg LF 1-3 2B RBI
Brown SS 2-3 2B BB 2Rs
Marston P 0-3 BB R

Marston 7 IP 7 H 2 ER 2 BB 2 SO 1 HB 1 BK

The Blair Blazers defeated the Blake Bengals today at home 10-2. The Bengals scored twice in the first inning, but were unable to put together any more runs in the game. Blair starting pitcher Peirce Marston pitched his second complete game in as many outings this year. Blair catcher Alex Egber knocked in four runs on the night.

I'll put up an article tomorrow.

ROCKVILLE - - Last Tuesday, VOLiSports.com held the first annual Montgomery County All-Star Basketball game, pitting the best public school players in the county against the best private school players. The Public squad prevailed in an upset, winning 107-98.

It was a fast-paced game throughout, and both teams were able to shoot well from beyond the arc. Three pointers by George Fountain III (Kennedy) and Stephen Griffin (Paint Branch) helped lead the public squad to an early 8-4 lead. A buzzer beating three by Brandon Davis (Springbrook) ended the first quarter at 34-20 Public.

Davis led all players with 9 points in the first quarter and finished with 15, second on Public. The Blue Devil also had four rebounds and two steals.

"I think I was able to score 15 against them by just going out and playing hard, like any other game." Davis said. "It was fun getting the chance to show why I was selected to play in this game. I really wanted to win, so I just did what I felt my team would benefit from."

Davis went on to say that one of the reasons the Public squad was able to mesh together on the court was that many of them played AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, basketball, a popular amateur sports organization that top high school players usually play in during the summer.

With about four minutes left in the second quarter, an exchange worthy of an All-Star game took place. Recardo Gaddy (Good Counsel) of the private team took the ball down the court, was knocked over in the paint, and tossed the ball over his shoulder for the basket. Gaddy made the free throw attempt, bringing Private's deficit down to 53-44. On the following possession, Fountain answered with an and-1 of his own to put Public's lead back in double figures.

Gaddy led all players with 23 points on the night, and also had five rebounds. He made seven free throw attempts, and was very impressive as a total offensive player.

"Today was just a fun game to come out and show what you got," Gaddy said. "It was a good overall game, and I was glad to have an opportunity to play with all of these guys. I knew some of these guys from AAU, and some from the regular season and preseason. Stephen Griffin impressed me the most, the stuff he was doing with the ball and ball handling, it surprised me because I haven't seen that from him before."

Fountain led the Public team with 16 points. The Cavalier also had four rebounds and made three three-pointers, tied with Private's Paul Llewellyn (Georgetown Prep) for the most makes from beyond the arc.

"I felt like I slid into my role today," Fountain said. "You know, hit open shots, spread the defense out. We had some good drivers on the team who were able to space it out, guys set good screens, and I hit the shots. It was great. It was a good showing, the players were having fun. The coaches were relaxed, but wanted to win, and the referees officiated well."

Uncharacteristically of an All-Star game, there was only one dunk. Only a few minutes in to the third quarter, Tex McClinton (Bullis) lobbed a pass to Alexander Zurn (St. Andrew's), who slammed it down for the private squad. On the following possession for Public, Nash Oh (Walter Johnson) faked out multiple defenders with a behind-the-back pass to Myles Petretti (Northwest), who made the jumper to make the score 65-52 Public. Oh led all players with 10 assists.

"It definitely made my job a lot easier being able to play with the top talent in the county," Oh said. "I was confident that my teammates could catch and finish my passes and made it a lot of fun for me to play with such good players."

Oh was able to find Walter Johnson teammate Carl Yaffe regularly, a main reason for Yaffe's 11 points.

"Me and Carl have been playing together since we were freshmen," Oh said. "So we've gotten to know our tendencies and our strengths. He knows where and when I'm gonna give him the ball and I know that he'll be open under the basket or at the three point line when I penetrate. We both read each other very well."

Zurn helped spur a 8-0 Private rally in the first minute of the fourth quarter to bring the game within two points, 80-78 Public. Zurn scored 11 of his 14 points in the final period, helping to keep the game close.

"I think I was able to do that because I was playing with some of the best private school players in county," he said. "And they gave me some good shots and they weren't hesitant to give me the ball and let me play my game. Throughout the game I felt like we were just as good, if not better than the other team. And I personally felt like if I crashed the boards I could get a lot of boards because of my jumping ability. My thought process was "take over right now" and I tried, we just came up short as team though."

Zurn said the atmosphere for the game was far different than those at St. Andrew's. Next year he will be playing at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

"The fans played a big role for me," he said. "Coming from St. Andrew's, all of my games this year had nothing close to the amount of fans that were there [Tuesday night]. In terms of the players, I didn't feel any added pressure playing against them. It was fun for me."

Three Public stars, Jeremy Williams (Springbrook), Stephen Griffin (Paint Branch), and Fountain, entered the fourth quarter for the first time with 5:00 minutes left and the score 89-87 public. Travis Marcus (Wheaton), who replaced star Springbrook player Jamal Olasewere on the Public roster, drilled a three on the next possession, and Williams hit a three-pointer well beyond NBA range 20 seconds later to make the score 95-87 Public.

"Well, I believe that I can shoot the ball well," Williams said. "And I knew that we needed a big play so I decided that I need to make that shot. It felt really good when the ball went in from that distance it really helped us. [This game was] very different, playing with a whole bunch of county stars, you can always learn something."

Olasewere did not play in the game because he is already signed up for two other All-Star games in the area. The power forward, who is being courted by Georgetown University, was honored by friends Griffin and Williams, who decided to wear their shorts up well past their waists in the second half.

"It was a good atmosphere, a lot of people came to the game," Griffin said. "So we just wanted to put on a show and have fun and show who's really the best in Montgomery County. Second half was the old school half, me and my friend Jeremy Williams decided to pull our shorts up for Jamal Olasewere. That's our man, and he doesn't like it when we wear small shorts, so we pulled them up for him."

Zurn made the game close again with 3 minutes left. Driving into the lane, Zurn was fouled by Ed Hall (Paint Branch), and while falling down, tossed up a shot that fell through the hoop. Zurn made the free throw, and the score was 97-94 Public. Private could never make it closer than that, however, as Public was able to make clutch free throws late in the game to pull it out.

Hall might have been assigned the most difficult task of the game - guarding 6'11" Julius Francis (Good Counsel), a recruit of Southern Methodist University. While Francis scored 22 points, Hall was able to force him farther away from the paint and limit his rebounding opportunities. In fact, the 6'6" Hall outrebounded Francis 8-7.

"Well, I was just trying to keep him from scoring, because he was scoring with ease again most of our other players," Hall said. "To keep him from scoring, you've got to play defense and finish it off with a rebound so he doesn't get any second chance points."

Griffin was perhaps the most impressive player on either team. Showing great court vision and lightning-fast ball handling skills, the Paint Branch point guard scored eight points with nine assists, even while sitting out for a large portion of the second half. Griffin says he has received interest from Tulsa University, Old Dominion University, and Coppin State University, among others.

VOLiSport's first annual MoCo All-Star Challenge was a great success, filling the arena at Richard Montgomery high school with enthusiastic fans. The game is a tradition that this reporter hopes will be continued for many years in the future.

SILVER SPRING - - In a game that only took an hour and twenty minutes to complete, the Blair Blazers improved their record to 2-1 with a resounding win over the Wheaton Knights, 11-1.

Wheaton, coming off a 30-0 loss against Blake on Monday, scored a run in the top of the first inning to take the lead. Second baseman Carlos Santana got on base on an error by Blair starting pitcher Lucas Babinec, and scored on a single by shortstop Lucas Bremerman.

The Blazers were able to respond in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs to take the lead for good. Right fielder Sammy Denenberg scored on an RBI single by third baseman Brady Ettinger, second baseman David Fegley scored on a Wheaton error, and Ettinger scored on a bases loaded walk by left fielder Peirce Marston.

Ettinger, a combined 1-7 in the first two games of the season, rebounded with a strong performance, scoring two runs in two plate appearances and playing solid defense at third base.

"Well, we knew we were going to beat this team, so the confidence was already there," Ettinger said. "I just came in wanting to get on the right foot back at our stadium, where we like to play more. Baseball is weird, I don't know if much changed, but I just let my hands fly, I've been working on getting quicker hands, and everything just worked out, so I'll try and keep my confidence level up for the rest of the season."

The Blazers stopped a potential Knights rally in the top of the second. With two outs, Wheaton left fielder Josh Williams singled and stole second base. Williams attempted to steal third, and Blair catcher Alex Egber's throw sailed over Ettinger's head at third base. As Williams rounded third and headed to home, Marston calmly fielded the ball and fired it home, where Egber made the tag to end the inning.

Blair really opened things up in the bottom of the second inning when Egber hit a three-run, two-out double, plating Babinec, Fegley, and Ettinger. Egber has now hit a double in all three of the Blazers' games this season.

"My first at-bat I saw seven pitches, so I had it completely timed down [by the second at-bat]," Egber said. "He threw a fastball basically right down the middle, I just waited on it and took a swing."

Babinec pitched well for the Blazers, throwing three innings and allowing only two hits and the one unearned run. The sophomore also did not walk any batters, and earned the win in his first appearance on the mound this season.

"Well, going into the game, I thought if I threw strikes and was pretty accurate, I could do a good job," Babinec said. "And that's mainly what happened. I got myself into some trouble with my own error somewhat, but I felt good. Obviously it's not the best opponent, but it makes me feel good that I came out and performed well against a team that I should."

Relievers Giulian Garruba and Nevin Brown (Blair's starting shortstop) threw scoreless innings for the Blazers to end the game. In two wins this season (and two games at home), the Blazers ERA is still a perfect 0.00.

"[What I saw from our pitchers was] just consistency," Egber said. "We got out of them exactly what we wanted to. They threw strikes and got guys out; it was a good pitching performance today."

One advantage for the Blazers in a game that gets so quickly out of hand like this is that players who don't usually get a chance to play get in the game. This offers the players an opportunity to get some playing time and confidence, but also allows coach John MacDonald a chance to see some of his nonstarters play or to see starters play new roles, like Brown on the mound.

"Well, I was happy with [our bench players]," MacDonald said. "I thought they all contributed, and even the guys who just got to play one inning each, it gives them confidence for later when we're gonna need them. I mean, our last two games have only been five inning games, we've played 17 innings in three games, but at least the guys are getting in and they're getting a chance to contribute."

MacDonald was pleased with the overall performance by the Blazers Wednesday night. The Blazers face a tough challenge on Saturday at Quince Orchard, followed by a home game against Blake on Monday.

"I thought we played well tonight," MacDonald said. "I thought all the pitchers did well, I thought we fielded pretty well, and even the double plays we hit into were scorched, so it was a good team win. Well, we've got three tough games coming up before spring break, and I think that the problem is sometimes our kids know the difference between a Wheaton and a Quince Orchard. They have to go into a QO game or Damascus game with the same confidence that they go into a Wheaton game."

I will not be able to attend the Quince Orchard game, but will post an update when I find out the result. The game is scheduled for 3:30 P.M.

Blair

Corran CF 0-4
Denenberg RF 0-2 R
Fegley 2B 0-1 3Rs 2BBs
Ettinger 3B 1-1 RBI R HBP
Egber C/1B 1-1 BB 2B 3RBIs R HBP
Gordon 1B 0-2 RBI
Marston LF 1-1 2BBs R 2RBIs
Brown SS 1-2 BB RBI
Babinec P 0-1 BB R
N Hukill RF 1-1
Friedman 3B 0-1 R
B Hukill BB R
Meyerson 2B 0-1 RBI

Babinec 3 IP 2 H 1 R (0 ER) 0 BB 1 SO 1 HB
Garruba 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 1 SO
Brown 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 1 SO

Wheaton

Sandoval 3B/P 0-3
Santana 2B 0-2 R
Pedroza P/3B 0-2
Lieder C 1-1 HBP
Bremerman SS 1-2 RBI SB
Rosas CF 0-2
Parker 1B 0-2
Padilla RF 0-2
Williams LF 1-1 BB SB

Pedroza 3 1/3 IP 5 H 11 R (8 ER) 6 BB 1 SO 2 HB
Sandoval 2/3 IP 0 H 0 R 1 BB

The Blair Blazers are now 2-1, defeating the Wheaton Knights 11-1 at home tonight. Lucas Babinec started the game on the mound for the Blazers, and allowed one unearned run in three innings. Giulian Garruba and Nevin Brown pitched scoreless innings in relief. Catcher Alex Egber hit a three-run double in the second inning to open up the game to 6-1.

I'll write up an article tomorrow.

Today in the VoliSports Public vs. Private Montgomery County all-star game, the Public squad defeated the Private squad, 107-98. Public led the entire game, and had strong perfomances by George Fountain III of Kennedy (16 points, 4 rebounds), Stephen Griffin (9 points, 8 assists) of Paint Branch, Brandon Davis (15 points, 4 rebounds) of state-champion Springbrook, and Nash Oh (10 assists) of Walter Johnson. Private was led by Recardo Gaddy (23 points, 5 rebounds) and Julius Francis (22 points, 7 rebounds) and Alexander Zurn of St. Andrews (13 points, 9 rebounds).

Tomorrow is a Blair baseball game against Wheaton. I'll be doing that write-up first, and then spend more time on this article, which will hopefully appear in the April paper.

The VoliSports Public vs. Private All-Star game is tonight, at Richard Montgomery High School. I'll be heading out there to cover the game, and it should be a great one. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

On a side note, Jay Goldman is maintaining a very good website for Northwood baseball, you can find it here.

DAMASCUS - - On Friday, the Blair Blazers won their first game of the year, pitching and fielding very well to a 3-0 victory over Richard Montgomery. The only complaint coach John MacDonald could have is that they could have hit better. The Blazers almost doubled their run output tonight, but seemed to leave the pitching and fielding back in Silver Spring, losing to the Damascus Hornets 16-5.

Blair squandered an opportunity to take an early lead after they were unable to capitalize on walks by center fielder Lucas Babinec and right fielder Neil Corran to start the game. Damascus responded with three runs on three hits, two walks, and three Blazer errors in the bottom of the first to take a lead they would never relinquish.

Blair starting pitcher Sammy Denenberg struggled on the mound, allowing ten runs on ten hits and seven walks in three innings of work. Blair's lack of relief depth was shown, as MacDonald left in Denenberg for those three long innings and was forced to put in Wednesday's projected starter Josh Gordon for the last inning in relief. Gordon allowed six runs on three hits, three walks, and two Blazer errors.

Blair's fielding did not help out their pitchers, as five errors led to eleven unearned runs. The highlight of the Hornets' night was a third inning three-run home run by Brian McCuigan. The shot bounced off the top of the right field wall before falling over the fence.

The Blazers had their moments on offense. Gordon worked a nine-pitch at-bat for a walk in the second inning. In the third, Corran scored the Blazers' first run on an Alex Egber double over the head of Damascus center fielder Brad Johnson. Three of Blair's reserves - Elliot Meyerson, Nate Hukill, and Ben Hukill - scored runs in the fifth and final inning to get the score to 16-5.

The Blazers' next game is on Wednesday, March 25th, at home against Wheaton. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Blair

Babinec CF 1-2 2BBs RBI
Corran LF 2-3 BB R 3RBIs
Ettinger 3B 0-4
Egber C 1-3 2B RBI
Fegley 2B 0-3
Gordon 1B 0-1 BB
Marston LF 0-1 BB
Brown SS 0-1 BB R
Denenberg P 0-2

Meyerson PH 1-1 R
N Hukill PH 0-0 BB R
Friedman PH 0-1
B Hukill C 0-0 BB R

Denenberg 3 IP 10 H 10 R (3 ER) 7 BB 1 SO
Gordon 1 IP 3 H 6 R (2 ER) 3 BB 1 SO 2 HB

Damascus

Abelman 2B 2-5 2B 2RBIs R
Razmic C 0-1 2BBs HBP 2Rs RBI
Smith 3B 2-3 2B 3Rs 3RBIs
Johnson CF 1-3 BB R RBI
McGuigan DH 2-3 BB HR 4RBIs 3Rs
Betts LF 2-3 2B BB R 2RBIs
Osborne RF 2-3 BB R RBI
Jacobs 1B 1-2 2Rs HBP BB RBI
Keller SS 1-2 2BBs 2Rs RBI

Whalen 3 IP 1 H 1 R (0 ER) 4 BB 4 SO
Densbourn 1 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB
Wodlowski 0.1 IP 1 H 2 ER 1 BB
Anders 0.2 IP 1 H 1 ER 2 BB 2 SO

SILVER SPRING - - Peirce Marston pitched a complete game shutout Friday night, leading the Blair Blazers to a victory in their first game of the season, beating the Richard Montgomery Rockets 3-0.

Marston had six strikeouts in his seven innings of work, and only allowed two Rocket hits. The sophomore also had a no-hitter through four innings.

"Well, I didn't feel I commanded my fastball," he said. "Which kind of hurt me, but my curveball was working well and my changeup was working well, so once I get that fastball down, it'll be great."

Marston ran into some trouble in the fifth inning after giving up a lead off double to left fielder Ryan McMakin and a walk to first baseman John Wright. But the sophomore cooly struck out the next two batters and got the last batter to ground out to end the inning.

"Everything was working," catcher Alex Egber said. "He had a little trouble early throwing strikes, but once he settled down it was just a pleasure to catch. Our coaches told us that it's the first [time]we've had a complete game shutout in a long time."

Marston said that he doesn't expect his 112 pitches to affect him adversely for the rest of the year, only that he'll "probably be dead tomorrow".

"Yes, I am worried [about Peirce's pitch count]," coach John MacDonald said. "Normally that's one thing I'm very careful about, it's just that he kept telling me that he felt good number one, and number two he doesn't have to throw again until a week from tomorrow."

In the top of the first, sophomore center fielder Lucas Babinec saved an extra-base hit with an incredible diving play. Richard Montgomery shortstop Jeremy Oziel sent a Marston fastball to deep left-center field, and Babinec got a good jump on the ball. The ball was over his head and to his right, but Baniec dove towards the fence and snagged the ball.

"Well, it came off the bat," Babinec said. "And I saw it well. I got a good jump on the ball, and I just got to it and laid out."

All of the game's runs were scored in the bottom of the third inning. Marston led off with a single, followed by a Babinec single. Outfielder Neil Corran bunted both runners over, and third baseman Brady Ettinger struck out. Egber walked to load the bases, and second baseman David Fegley hit a ground ball to first that Wright bobbled, leaving everyone safe and scoring a run. Blair first baseman Josh Gordon capitalized with a two-run single, and it was 3-0 Blazers.

"We had errorless defense, which was a huge key," MacDonald said. "I think we have to hit better to stay in games in the future, for example on Monday [against Damascus] we're gonna have score some runs to win. But I'm very happy with this, on a cold night to have a guy come out and throw seven, a complete game shutout, and then play the defense that we played is a testament to their hard work, they've done a good job."

The Blazers' depth this was shown, as six of their nine starters got on base. They do not seem to have a weak spot in their order, and even the three starting sophomores had good games - Babinec was 1-2 with a walk, a run, and his diving play in center, shortstop Nevin Brown was flawless at short, and Marston obviously had a great game.

"I think we're strong [in the lineup] 1-9," MacDonald said. "I think we had a couple balls, especially late in the game, that we hit on the nose that they made nice plays on. I think the balance is a key, it's also nice when guys down the order contribute. Our sophomores came up very big, Nevin made two nice plays, Lucas made an outstanding catch earlier in the game, obviously Peirce pitched very well. Those three sophomores deserve to be here, and I think they showed it."

Richard Montgomery's starting pitcher, Mike Linkins, got the loss. He pitched five innings, allowing five hits, three runs (none earned), while striking out seven batters in two innings. In one stretch, Linkins struck out four Blazers in a row.

"I think offensively we did struggle," MacDonald said. "I mean we did take advantage of that one mistake and Josh had the biggest hit of the game, but some of that's attributed to their pitcher, I thought the guy did a really good job and his changeup kept us off balance."

The Blazers play next against perennial county power Damascus on Monday. The game is at Damascus, and is scheduled for 3:30.

Blair

Babinec CF 1-2 BB R
Corran RF 0-3 SAC
Ettinger 3B 1-3 2B
Egber C 1-2 2B BB R
Fegley 2B 0-3 RBI
Gordon 1B 1-3 2RBIs
Denenberg LF 0-3
Brown SS 0-3
Marston P - 1-2 R

Marston 7 IP 2 H 0 R 6 BB 6 SO

RM

Simon 2B 0-3 BB
Oziel SS 0-3
Silverman C 0-3
Beyer CF 0-2 BB
Sater RF 1-3
McMakin LF 1-2 2B BB
Wright 1B 0-1 2BBs
Silber 3B 0-2 BB
Lee DH 0-3

Linkins 5 IP 5 H 3 R (0 ER) 2 BB 7 SO
Harab 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 0 SO

Because of March Madness and events, I'll be putting up the article tomorrow instead.

The Blair Blazer baseball team won their first game of the season today, beating the Richard Montgomery Rockets 3-0 at home. Sophomore pitcher Peirce Marston pitched a complete game shutout, throwing seven innings of two hit ball. All of the runs were scored in a Blazer three-run third inning, sparked by a Richard Montgomery error.

I'll put up the article tomorrow.

Just had a talk online with Blair opening day starting pitcher Peirce Marston. The sophomore seems fairly confident about tomorrow's game

"Well, not really sure what to think about starting," he said. "Other than just sticking to what I've always been doing as a pitcher, mixing up my pitches and getting ahead in the count; against RM tomorrow, aside from obviously winning, I would like to gain confidence against a less formidable opponent, and establish myself as a pitcher to be aware of."

Marston did not walk a batter during the preseason, and if he has control like that tomorrow, the Blazers will be hard to beat.

The Blair baseball team will open their regular season tomorrow with a home game against the Richard Montgomery Rockets. The Rockets were 7-10 last season; the Blazers were 10-10.

This year's Blair team has experience on it's side - all nine of their projected starters for tomorrow have varsity experience, and four seniors start for the Blazers. Sophomore Peirce Marston was pegged as the opening day starting pitcher by coach John MacDonald, largely due to his performance in preseason scrimmages. Marston retired all but one batter that he faced in four innings of work. Here is the projected starting lineup:

C - Alex Egber - Junior
1B - Josh Gordon - Senior
2B - David Fegley - Senior
SS - Nevin Brown - Sophomore
3B - Brady Ettinger - Senior
OF - Sammy Denenberg - Junior
OF - Neil Corran - Senior
OF - Lucas Babinec - Sophomore
SP - Marston

The Blazers are working with largely a three-man starting rotation in Marston, Denenberg and Gordon. When Denenberg starts, Marston will likely slide over to the outfield. When Gordon starts, Denenberg moves to first and Marston plays in the outfield.

The game starts at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.

The first annual VoliSports Montgomery County basketball all-star game was announced recently. It will pit the top public school players against the top private school players on Tuesday, March 24th, at Richard Montgomery High School. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The rosters were announced this afternoon, which can be viewed here (private) and here (public).

The private squad will be coached by Dwayne Bryant of Georgetown Prep (assisted by Mike Hibbs of Good Counsel) and the public squad will be coached by Chris Lun of Whitman (assisted by Matt Miller of Churchill and Jesse Irvin of Northwest).

Blair has played against almost all of the players on the public team, most notably Jamal Olasawere and Jeremy Williams of state-champion Springbrook, Elijah Gore and Chase Hicks of Churchill, Carl Yaffe of Walter Johnson, Ed Hall of Paint Branch, and George Fountain III of Kennedy.

Personally, I'll be pulling for public, but they've got to be a severe underdog here. Private schools are allowed to recruit while public schools are not. Additionally, it is well known that playing at a private school is your gateway to playing college basketball, so the best talent goes to these schools year after year. There's no question that the public squad has top flight talent, especially with the duos from Springbrook and Churchill, so it should be a great game.

Unfortunately, no Blair players were named to the team. Seniors Leon Sampson, Mike McClain, and Wayne Henderson, who all averaged around 11 points per game this season, were all viable candidates, but were not able to crack the list.

Richard Montgomery's gym is one of the nicest in the county, and it will be a great place to watch a great game.

SILVER SPRING - - In their third preseason scrimmage of the year, the Blair Blazer softball team handled the Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders without much difficulty, winning 10-1.

Blair started the scoring in the third inning, when first baseman Rachel Nicholson drove in Blake Morgan-Gamber and Eve Brown with a single.

"I really just wanted to drive a run in," Nicholson said, "It was more about getting something on the board than getting a huge hit, and it got the job done."

Left fielder Xenia Oroxom drove in Katlyn Harmison to finish the inning at 3-0, and the Blazers would never look back. The Blazers scored a combined seven runs in the final three innings of the seven inning game.

Catcher Emily Haislip and second baseman Lily Alexander shone on offense for Blair. Alexander, a reserve who came off the bench after the third inning, was 3-3 with two stolen bases, two RBIs, and a run scored. Haislip was 3-4 with two runs, an RBI, three stolen bases, and a triple.

"I think I did well today," Haislip said. "Especially against a slow pitcher. The team needs a pick-me-up against slow pitchers because we don't do so well against them, so I definitely helped the team."

Morgan-Gamber scored two runs, Rachel Nicholson's sister Molly was 2-2 with a run, and Becca Arbacher scored two runs as well.

Starting pitcher Eve Brown had a phenomenal scrimmage for the Blazers. The sophomore pitched five innings of one-hit shutout ball, walking one while striking out 11 Raider batters.

Reliever Samantha Schweickhardt also turned in a dominant performance on the mound for Blair. The freshman struck out five batters in two innings of work in her first-ever appearance on the high school level.

Eleanor Roosevelt, considered one of the top teams in Prince George's County, was no match for the Blazers' pitching, and Blair's offense was able to put more than enough runs on the board for the easy win. If they continue to play like this, it should be a very exciting and successful year for Blair softball.