River Hill Wins State Title on Last At-Bat

Laidley Knocks in Winning Run on First-Pitch Fastball: River Hill 3, Eastern Tech 2

ABERDEEN, Md., May 23 -- As he walked into the batter's box, Christian Laidley had a pretty good idea what to expect. A walk, a single and an error had allowed River Hill to score the tying run, and teammate Jeff Crosswhite stood on third base, 90 feet from scoring the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Maryland 2A championship game.

"With a guy on third, [a pitcher does] not want to get behind in the count," said Laidley, a junior and the Hawks' leading hitter. "He was going to throw me a first-pitch fastball, and I was going to try to hit that. I didn't want to get deep in the count and have to hit a curveball."

Laidley, indeed, was correct, and he lined the pitch into center field, scoring Crosswhite and setting off a jubilant celebration -- first near Crosswhite at home plate, then near Laidley at first base -- as River Hill rallied to beat Eastern Tech of Baltimore, 3-2, to win its first state championship on Saturday afternoon at Ripken Stadium.

The victory capped quite a run for the Hawks, who were 5-5 entering the final week of April. But they won 11 of their final 12 games, including three come-from-behind victories in the postseason. While River Hill was a newcomer to such big games, they had become common for Eastern Tech, which was trying for its third state title in five years.

"We had a little rocky start at the beginning [of the season], and we weren't too hot," said Crosswhite, who also threw a five-hitter. "But we came together at a great time."

On Saturday, things came together in the bottom of the seventh for River Hill (16-6). Crosswhite allowed one run in the third inning and another in the fourth, but Laidley singled, stole second and scored on a single by Danny Caddigan, bringing the Hawks to 2-1. But that's the way it stayed until the final inning.

With one out, Adam Brookhart walked, taking a 3-2 high fastball. Crosswhite sent the next pitch to center field for a single, moving Brookhart to second base. Joe Kolodrubetz followed with a chopper that went under the third baseman's glove, and Brookhart easily scored the tying run when the ball also rolled past the left fielder, with Crosswhite moving up to third base.

That set the stage for Laidley, who entered the week with a .471 batting average and 28 runs batted in, both team highs.

"I'll be honest, I think the guys were a little overwhelmed [by] the music, the fans, and we weren't executing early," River Hill first-year coach Wes McCoy said. "But you've got to give credit to Jeff Crosswhite, pitching the way he did and keeping us in it. I might have been worried [in the final inning], but the team wasn't."

River Hill 3, Eastern Tech 2 Another for the Trophy Case: While River Hill has become known as a school of champions, this was the first state team title in any spring sport for the Clarksville school. Pitching and Defense: The Hawks made just one error -- with two outs in the seventh inning -- and allowed eight runs in six postseason games.