Baseball: Huskies Stand Alone At Top of MAC

Tom Verbanic headed into Wednesday's game against Maret .

With a crushing 23-8 win, the Flint Hill head coach is now hoping his team can sustain their newfound focus.

"I thought we were very focused today, and I think our kids rose to the occasion," Verbanic said. "I give our kids a lot of credit for getting their heads back in the game."

On paper, the game should not have been such a blowout. Both teams entered Wednesday's game with a 5-1 conference record, knowing sole possession of first place in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference hung in the balance.

With 18 hits from 10 different players, the Huskies relied on their own bats rather than mistakes from the Frogs to earn their win. And it started in the first inning.

Leading off, David Belt reached on an error from left fielder Walter Albee to land on second base. Calvin Baxter singled on the first pitch to score Belt. Two batters later, Jared Knoll walked to put two runners on for Nick Bazzarone's home run over the center field wall. With the bases cleared, Harrison Gray hit a double and Bhendari Moore followed up with a home run to put the Huskies up 6-0.

Bazzarone (.375) and Moore (.350) would each hit another home run later in the game. The Huskies have hit 22 home runs this season and have a team batting average of .365.

The Huskies doubled their runs in the second, after allowing the Frogs to score one in the top of the inning. The ugliest inning would be the third in which the Huskies scored their last 11 runs.

Knoll (0.88 ERA) pitched four strikeouts and gave up four hits for the Huskies.

Lightning delayed the game for about a half hour just before the start of the fifth and final inning, and the Frogs staged a bit of a comeback as Flint Hill's Zach Stottlemyer struggled on the mound. He gave up two hits, hit four batters and walked one, allowing them to score four runs. After hitting a fourth batter, Bazzarone came in from center field to relieve him. Bazzarone gave up one more single, hit another batter and allowed three more runs to give the Frogs eight runs total.

Though the Huskies have notched many recent mercy-rule wins, Verbanic said this one was different.

"They're a very good team and I think we just got on them early," Verbanic said. "We did an awesome job of coming out ready to play today and really swung the sticks. This is the best we've looked this year."

With games against MAC competitors Sidwell Friends, Potomac and Maret again in the beginning of May to end the season, Verbanic hopes his team can maintain some of their momentum to clinch first place.

"It's not always going to be like this," he said. "We were just very focused and we had hits up and down the lineup today, but we can compete against anybody if we keep our heads in the game."

Huskies stats:

Hits: Calvin Baxter (three singles), Nick Bazzarone (two home runs), Bhendari Moore (two home runs), Harrison Gray (double, single), Michael Palma (double, single), Jared Knoll (two singles), Rick Armstrong (single), James Abrahamsen (double, single), Daniel Giguere (single), Jordan Davis (single)
RBI: Bazzarone (6), Moore (4), Palma (3), Knoll (2), Armstrong (2), Abrahamsen (2), Baxter (1), Gray (1), Davis (1)