Eighth-Ranked Prince George's Baseball Clinches Top Spot For NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament With Sweep Of Westmoreland County

LARGO, Md. – Kilian Bloat (Liberty, N.Y./Liberty), Dwayne Coleman (Lothian, Md./Southern) Siri-Jacob Ramirez (Orlando, Fla./Cenapec [Dominican Republic]) and Bay To (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann) each knocked in two runs on the afternoon while Michael Hovermill, Jr. (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Spackenkill) continued his dominance on the mound in the second game to propel eighth-ranked Prince George's Community College to a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Region XX baseball doubleheader sweep against Westmoreland County Community College on Saturday. The Owls (25-10-1) won the opener 8-4 and then took the nightcap 3-0 clinch the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Region XX Tournament.

In the first game, To smacked a two-run double in the first while Ramirez smacked a two-run homer in the frame to stake Prince George out to an early 4-0 lead. Bloat then connected on a two-run homerun of his own in the third to increase the advantage to six runs. To finished the afternoon with two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs while Ramirez added a base hit in the nightcap to finish his day with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Coleman, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored in the opener, plated Brandon Crosby (Richmond, Va./Atlee, Mechanicsville) in the first and the second to account for two of the squad's three runs in the nightcap. Coleman posted three hits, two RBIs and a run scored on the day. Crosby tallied three hits, three runs scored and an RBI in the two games.

Hovermill capped a stellar month on the mound with a seven-inning complete-game four hitter with nine strikeouts and two walks to register his team-leading sixth win of the year. For the month of April, Hovermill is 5-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched while four of his five wins in the month came against Division II competition.

Gustavo Mirando fueled the Wolfpack (9-17) with four hits, two RBIs and a run scored while Cameron Gerhard posted two hits, a run scored and an RBI, and Dakota Sachs had two hits and an RBI in the opener.

In a day Prince George's tipped its cap to former head coach William "Bumps" Vaughan, who coached the Owls for 20 years from 1986-2005 and passed away at the age of 90 on Feb. 25, the Owls saluted the former coach with a pair of wins and clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament hosted by Prince George's on May 12-14.

Prince George's scored seven runs in the first three innings in the opener and never looked back to earn an 8-4 victory.

After Crosby opened the bottom of the first by reaching on an error, he moved to second on a wild pitch and Coleman put runners on the corners with a single through the left side. To brought both runners home on a two-run double that just bounced over the third base bag and down the left field line. Ramirez then capped a four-run first inning with a shot over the center field fence for his second round tripper of the year and a 4-0 advantage.

A three-run third by the Owls increased the lead to seven runs. Dakota McFadden (Largo, Md./Heide Trask [N.C.]) doubled to right center and scored on Harold Marte's (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) single through the left side before Bloat drilled his second homer of the year to center for a two-run shot and a 7-0 lead.

Westmoreland County scored four times in the fourth to cut the margin to 7-4. Gerhard hit a homer to right field to get the Wolfpack on the scoreboard before Miranda smacked a two-run double and Sachs added an RBI single through the left side to make it a three-run game.

In the fifth, To walked and moved to second on McFadden's walk, and to third on Marte's fly out before scoring on an error to increase the margin to 8-4.

The Wolfpack loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh to get the tying run to the plate, but James Wilcox III (Sterling, Va./Dominion) got out of the jam with a fly out to left field to secure the win and the top seed in the region tournament.

Jonathan Mahoney (Largo, Md./Gar-Field) pitched the first five innings to earn his fifth win of the year while Wilcox tossed the final two frames to earn his second save of the season.

Just like in the opener, Prince George's jumped out to the early lead and never looked back to complete the twinbill sweep with a 3-0 victory.

The Largo program scored once in the first to take the lead it would not relinquish. Crosby doubled to right, moved to third on a wild pitch and touched home on Coleman's RBI groundout for a 1-0 edge.

A two-run second gave the Owls a 3-0 advantage. Ryan Faircloth (Wade, N.C./Cape Fear) walked, moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a groundout and touched home on Crosby's RBI single passed a diving third baseman. Crosby then posted his NJCAA Division III-leading 34th stolen base on the year and moved to third on an error on the play before Coleman brought Crosby home on a single up the middle.

Hovermill then did the rest. The freshman recorded seven strikeouts in the first 14 batters he faced. Westmoreland County only had a runner reach second base three times in the game. In the third after he retired the first six batters he faced, a single and walk with no outs put runners at first and second only to see Hovermill record a strikeout, fly out and groundout to end the inning and the other two times the Wolfpack had a runner reach second base was with two outs and Hovermill used a strikeout in the fifth and a groundout in the seventh to end those threats.

McFadden finished the day with three doubles and a run scored.

Prince George's, who has been in the NJCAA Division III rankings in three of the last four weeks, ends the year 6-0 in NJCAA Division III Region XX games. The Owls have won eight of their last 10 games and 15 of their last 20 games while reaching 20 victories in a campaign for the first time in 20 years.

Prince George's concludes its home slate during the regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader against Garrett. First pitch is 12 p.m.

Pregame ceremony in honor of Wiliam "Bumps" Vaughan

Facebook Live Video Of Ceremony

Public Address Announcement Before Game
Today we celebrate the legacy of William "Bumps" Vaughan. A legend in Prince George's County on the diamond, Coach Vaughan coached baseball at the legion, high school and junior college level for over 50 years, including 20 years at Prince George's Community College from 1986-2005. He will live on for decades through fathers, sons and grandsons. Many of whom went on to become coaches. He was not only an exceptional baseball coach, but an exceptional man, who passed away on Feb. 27 at the age of 90.

Today is not a sad day as we reflect on his accomplishments on this earth. We want to tip a cap in honor of the people in Prince George's County and Prince George's Community College that were touched in some way by Coach Vaughan over the years.

At this time, we ask the players on the field and anyone in attendance that has a hat to take off their hats and raise them in the air to honor Coach Vaughan's memory with a moment of silence followed by the national anthem.