Published: August 17, 2008 12:27 am            

Albany’s Orioles extend string of championships

Baltimore knows better than any other team in AAABA Tournament history what it takes to win a championship.

Youse’s Maryland Orioles captured their sixth straight championship and 26th overall Saturday night at Point Stadium in the finale of the 64th annual AAABA Tournament with a 9-1 victory over Washington’s McLean Raiders.

“I really thought this group was the best team we ever brought here to Johnstown,” Baltimore manager Dean Albany said. “I never had a group of kids play so well together.

“We won everything we played in this year. We won our league at home, our city league to represent Baltimore here, we won Cal Ripken League, we won our Cal Ripken postseason end-of-the-season tournament and to top it all off, what we wanted to win most, this tournament.”

The sixth consecutive champ-ionships was a first in AAABA Tournament history.

“Because it had never been done before, with the six in a row, we kind of targeted that,” Albany said.

The victory over Washington avenged a 4-3 earlier tournament loss to the Raiders in the second game.

“You lose on Tuesday, it just means you have to win five games in a row,” Albany said. “We won five in a row seven times this year. We’ve never been undefeated in this tournament. Five of the six we lost our first or second game and came back and won it. We are 29-0 in elimination games in six years.

“We didn’t start playing well until Friday,” Albany said. “Johnstown had a chance to send us home and we kind of got a break or two and won the game and got to stay around.”

Baltimore got on the board in the third inning Saturday against Washington as Tyler Hibbs led off with a single, moving to third on a Nick Natoli double to right field. Hibbs came home on a sacrifice fly by Gerard Hall (2-for-3, four RBIs).

Washington evened the game in the top of the fourth as Chris Duffy opened the frame with a double to left-center field. After a walk to Greg Bachman (2-for-3) and a hit batsman loaded the bases, Duffy scored on a double play.

The Orioles answered in the bottom of the fourth with four runs. Leon Landry led off with a double to left center field, scoring on a single by Mike Celenza.

“It took a lot of pressure off me,” winning pitcher Max Russell said about the early cushion. “I was pretty excited. I had an outstanding defense behind me. My curveball was my strikeout pitch and I was just trying to get ahead of batters.

“They gave me my first loss since my junior year of high school the other day, so I avenged that loss.”

After a walk to Patrick Long by starting pitcher Dan Tillman, Tyler Hibbs hit a ball to right field that was misplayed by Duffy, allowing Hibbs to move to third, scoring Celenza and Long. John Hicks singled home Hibbs to put the Orioles ahead 5-1.

Baltimore added three more runs in the sixth. Long led off with a double to left and scored on the first of three Washington errors in the inning. Another Raiders miscue on a Natoli ground ball allowed him to reach base. A Hall single and a stolen base plated Blair and Natoli.

The Orioles set the final with a run in the eighth as Hibbs and Hicks hit back-to-back singles to open the frame. A fielder's choice moved Hibbs to third and he scored on a Hall single.

“I really, really thought we had a good shot,” Washington manager Eric Smith said. “We knew we had to get ahead early. There’s a reason why they are six-time champions. I wish we’d have put on a little better show at the end.”

Notes: Baltimore is 26-6 in AAABA title games and 5-1 against Washington. ... Seven errors were committed by the two teams in the title game. ... Philadelphia earned the AAABA sportsmanship award. ... Baltimore’s Hibbs was the batting champion going 10-for-19 for a .526 average. ... The Orioles’ Landry was the RBI champion with 13. ... Pitcher Scott Swinson of Baltimore was named the tournament MVP. The right-hander was 2-0, giving up five hits and one earned run. ...Tillman and Russell were teammates on the Florida Southern squad.

        

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