Walk it off

Blue Crabs win in 11th on Maples home run

Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH James Shanks watches his first-inning single that advanced George Sandel to second base in Wednesday’s 11-inning victory. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH Brandon Ketron, left, and Jeremy Owens do some pregame stretching before Wednesday’s game. Ketron was called upon to play third base Wednesday.   Tuesday Southern Maryland 5, Bridgeport 4 Bridgeport 000 001 030 –– 4 10 0 Blue Crabs 000 000 041 –– 5 8 2 WP Blanton (3-1), LP Tucker (3-2) Extra-base hits: 2B –– Florence (B), Hoorelbeke (B), Munhall (B); HR –– Osborn (SM) Wednesday Southern Maryland 7, Bridgeport 6 Bridgeport 101 000 040 00 –– 6 10 0 Blue Crabs 100 004 010 01 –– 7 10 4 WP Gale (4-4), LP Wilkerson (1-6) Extra-base hits: 2B –– Lopez (B), Hoorelbeke (B), Maples (SM), Shorsher (SM); 3B –– Jarosinski (SM); HR – Florence (B), Maples (SM) 2

But second baseman Chris Maples found a better way.

Maples led off the 11th by crushing a 2-ball, no-strike pitch over the scoreboard in left field for a walk-off home run and a 7-6 win over the Liberty Division-leading Bridgeport Bluefish. It was the second straight game the Blue Crabs (48-41, 12-7 second half after defeating Bridgeport again, 11-4 on Thursday) won with a walk-off homer, as the previous night, third baseman Patrick Osborn went yard in the bottom of the ninth to win, 5-4.

‘‘I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to stay patient,” said Maples, who also homered in the eighth to tie the game at 6. ‘‘For some reason, when I get into situations where I really need to do something, I just get really relaxed and focused. I don’t know what it is, but I got a good pitch to hit and didn’t miss it.”

Maples’ game-winning shot capped off a back-and-forth contest that saw the Bluefish take a 2-1 lead but then fall behind 5-2 after a four-run sixth for the Blue Crabs. But Bridgeport jumped on the Southern Maryland bullpen and posted four runs in the top of the eighth.

The two teams failed to produce any runs in the ninth and 10th, but after Bridgeport was retired in order in the top of the 11th, Owens, who had struck out swinging to end the previous at-bat, had had enough.

‘‘When the game drags on like that, guys lose focus, and I didn’t want for them to make the same mistake I did of not having a plan at the plate,” Owens said. ‘‘I wanted us to get back to basics, and not try to do something that was going to be unlikely given the way they were going to be pitching us. But hey, I am glad to be proven wrong. Chris got a pitch to hit over the middle, and he put good wood on it.”

Southern Maryland’s late-game heroics have helped the Blue Crabs climb their way back into first place in the division. On Tuesday, Southern Maryland erased a four-run deficit in the eighth and won the game in the ninth on Osborn’s walk-off, the first walk-off home run in team history.

Osborn’s clutch shot came one pitch after the All-Star third baseman took a foul ball to the knee and fell to the dirt in pain. Osborn recovered and drilled the next pitch into the picnic pavilion in left field.

Osborn was forced to sit out Wednesday’s game due to swelling in his knee and watched from the bench as Maples’ shot left the yard.

‘‘When he hit it, I knew it was gone, and it was kind of eerie, because it was almost to the exact spot as the one last night,” Osborn said. ‘‘Baseball is a crazy game, and it never ceases to amaze me. Everyday, you see something new.”

For Blue Crabs catcher Brandon Ketron, the craziness started well before Maples stepped to the plate in the 11th. With Osborn injured and unavailable, Ketron was called upon to play third base, as the team has no reserve infielders on the roster.

With Hobson positioning him accordingly for each batter and Osborn giving him pointers between innings, Ketron played admirably. The catcher made three plays in the field and just one error, on a high throw to first base that would have been there in time to get Bridgeport leadoff man Travis Ezi.

‘‘I thought he did a hell of a job out there,” Hobson said. ‘‘He got in front of that ball that was hard hit and made a play at first. He’s a catcher, and you know he is going to get in front of the ball, so we gave him a shot.”

Chris Gale picked up the win with a flawless outing, pitching the 10th and 11th with two strikeouts. Southern Maryland starter Keith Ramsey went seven strong innings and allowed just two runs on five hits.

‘‘Ramsey was excellent tonight, and he deserved to get the win,” Hobson said.

The Blue Crabs hit the road for a seven-game road trip with stops in Camden and Bridgeport. Southern Maryland returns home to face Lancaster in a three-game series that begins Aug. 8.