Gamechanger: Adams Hits Game-Winner In Opener And Makes Game-Saving Catch In Game Two To Propel Prince George's Baseball To Sweep Against No. 17 Frederick

Gamechanger: Adams Hits Game-Winner In Opener And Makes Game-Saving Catch In Game Two To Propel Prince George's Baseball To Sweep Against No. 17 Frederick

LARGO, Md. – Austin Adams (Fayetteville, Ga./Whitewater) smacked a walk-off RBI single in the opener and then made the game-saving catch to end the game in the nightcap to propel Prince George's Community College to a Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) doubleheader sweep against 17th-ranked Frederick on Saturday. The Owls won the first game 3-2 and then rallied for a 10-9 victory in the nightcap.

Adams, who entered the opener as a defensive replacement, smacked the first pitch that he saw into left center to score Dakota McFadden (Largo, Md./Heide Trask [N.C.]) with the decisive run to give the Owls (21-8-1, 7-7-1 MD JUCO) their second-straight walk-off after rallying for a 17-16 victory against CCBC Dundalk on Thursday. After Ryan Faircloth (Wade, N.C./Cape Fear) capped a four-run rally with a decisive two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Miciah Thomas sent a deep drive to right center field with a runner on first that Adams was able to track down for the second out and then doubled the runner off second to end the game and complete the two-game sweep. Adams finished the afternoon with two hits, one run scored and an RBI.

McFadden ended the day with four hits and three runs scored while Brandon Crosby (Richmond, Va./Atlee, Mechanicsville) posted three hits, three runs scored and an RBI. Dwayne Coleman (Lothian, Va./Southern) added two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs in the nightcap.

Jonathan Mahoney (Largo, Md./Gar-Field [Va.]) allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in the opener. Michael Hovermill, Jr. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Spackenkill), the current National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Pitcher of the Week, pitched the final frame with one strikeout to earn his second win of the week after picking up the victory in a 6-2 win at CCBC Essex on Tuesday. James Wilcox III (Sterling, Va./Dominion) tossed the final 1.2 innings of the nightcap with one walk and one hit to earn the victory. For the week, Wilcox went 2-0 with a save after allowing one run on three hits with three walks in 7.1 innings of work.

Jett Manning paced the Cougars (27-10, 8-7 MD JUCO) with three hits and two runs scored while Seth Holler added two hits, two runs scored and an RBI, including a solo homer in the opener for the NJCAA Division II nationally-ranked team.

In the opener, Frederick took an early lead after two innings before Prince George's scored the final two runs to earn its second-consecutive win against the Cougars.

After Frederick scored twice in the second to take a 2-1 edge, the Owls tied the game with a run in the fifth. Crosby walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Coleman and to third on a Bay To (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann) fly out before touching home on a wild pitch to square the game at 2.

In the seventh, McFadden reached on an error and moved to second when Harold Marte (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) walked before Adams plated McFadden with the game-winning run on a single to the left side of center field on a line drive for a 3-2 win.

Mahoney retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced after the Cougars scored their two runs in the second. After the Owls tied it at 2, Frederick got a walk and single with two outs in the sixth, but a fly out ended the threat and then the squad went down 1-2-3 in the seventh before Adams big hit in the bottom of the inning.

Crosby got the scoring started in the game when he singled to center to lead off the bottom of the first, moved to second on a balk and then stole third before touching home on an error to give Prince George's an early 1-0 lead.

The Cougars responded in the second with two runs to take a 2-1 lead thanks to a Holler home run to left and the second run coming home on an error. The advantage would hold up until the fifth when the Owls tied the game and then won it in the seventh in walk-off fashion.

In the nightcap, Frederick grabbed the advantage and kept adding to the margin only to see Prince George's fight back before the Owls scored four times in the sixth to early the come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 9-6 in the bottom of the sixth after the Cougars scored twice in the top of the frame, Crosby started the four-run rally with a single to right center and then advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a steal before Coleman plated Crosby with a line-drive run-scoring single to right center. After Coleman moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt, To scored Coleman with an RBI groundout to make it a one-run game at 9-8. After McFadden walked and Marte dumped a single in front of the right fielder, Faircloth smoked a two-run double down the left field line to give Prince George's 9-8 lead. In the ninth, Thomas hit was looked like a game-tying base hit only to see Adams run down the fly ball at the fence to help secure the victory.

Just like the opener, the Owls struck first in the opening inning to take an early one-run lead. Coleman singled through the right side and moved to third on To's single with an error on the play and then touched home on a wild pitch.

For the second time on the afternoon, Frederick responded with runs in the second to take the advantage. The Cougars tied the game on an error before Ryan Fowler reached on an infield base hit looper that fell right behind the pitcher's mound for an RBI base hit and a 2-1 margin. After Thomas followed with an RBI fielder's choice that also saw a run come across courtesy of an error, Brady Harju capped the inning with an RBI single back through the box for a 5-1 lead.

Prince George's came right back with three runs in the second to cut the margin to 5-4. Faircloth started the rally by being hit with the pitch and Thomas Thorgersen (Largo, Md./Forest Park [Va.]) walked before Adams reached on an infield base hit and Faircloth came home on an error on the play. After Davis was hit with a pitch, Crosby plated Thorgersen with an RBI fielder's choice and Coleman scored Adams on a sacrifice fly to center.

A two-run fourth by Frederick increased the visitor's lead to 7-4 thanks to a run scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Thomas Gonzalez.

The Owls responded with a two-run fifth to close the gap to one run for the second time. McFadden reached on a single to left center and Marte singled before both runners scored on Thorgersen's infield single to cut the deficit to 7-6.

Two runs in the sixth looking like good insurance runs for the Cougars after Alex Aristy smacked a two-run single to left, but Prince George's posted four runs in the bottom of the sixth and went on for the victory.

The Owls have won 20 games for the first time under head coach Buddy Foster. Prince George's went 4-0 this week against NJCAA Division II teams and improved to 9-3-1 against the division on the year. The squad is 16-4-1 against Division II and III on the year and have won six of its last seven against junior colleges in Maryland.

The Owls return to action on Thursday at home against Anne Arundel Community College. First pitch is 3:30 p.m.