MPSSAA 1A State Championship Recap

Tue May 30, 2023
Jamie Naill Jr
Maryland Scouting Director

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In a rematch of last year's 1A State Championship game, No. 1 Clear Spring locked horns with No. 2 Colonel Richardson in the first of three state title games on Saturday at Regency Furniture Stadium. Last year's championship game saw Clear Spring win in fairly dominating fashion by a score of 11-3, however, this one was an instant classic that took 11 innings to decide the winner. 

Colonel Richardson's road to the state title game was slightly different than that of Clear Spring, as the Colonels received a first round bye before defeating St. Michaels 5-1 in the Region Semifinals and North Dorchester 5-4 in the Region Finals. The Colonels would then get re-seeded as the No. 2 seed, where they would route Central 15-0 in the State Quarterfinals and defeat Northern 6-4 in the State Semi's, leading to the rematch with Clear Spring in the Championship. 

Clear Spring did not receive the first round bye, as they defeated Boonsboro 9-1 in the Region Quarterfinals, Brunswick 4-3 in the Region Semifinals and a really tough Catoctin team 3-0 in the Region Finals. Clear Spring would then get re-seeded as a No. 1 seed, where they would dominate Edmondson-Westside 19-0 in the State Quarterfinals. A 4-1 win over a talented Pikesville team in the State Semi's led the Blazers into their rematch with Colonel Richardson in the Championship.


Game Summary

Colonel Richardson would scratch across the first run of the game in the top of the 2nd inning, as Junior Manny Wallace executed a textbook "Squeeze" bunt to push the Colonels ahead 1-0. In the bottom of the 2nd, Clear Spring would answer right back, as Senior Lane Poffenberger blooped a two RBI single into shallow center field to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead. Both Hutson Trobaugh (Clear Spring) and Daniel Hesson (Colonel Richardson) would find their respective groove on the mound after the 2nd inning, as the score remained until the 7th inning. Freshman Jack Walls would lead off the 7th for the Colonels with a single down the right field line and come around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Senior Chandler Tindall, tying the game at 2 a piece. Both teams would threaten throughout innings 8-10 but could not cash in with the big knock, all before Junior two-way Dawson Kehr stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 11th. Kehr would ambush a fastball and deposit a walk-off solo homerun over the wall in left field, completing the Blazers "Back-to-Back" title run with a 3-2 victory over Colonel Richardson. 

 

*Below are a few key videos and notes from the game*