This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Parkdale Baseball Cruises Into Win Over Laurel

The change of venue didn't seem to affect the players' focus.

The baseball team found out Thursday afternoon that its scheduled home game against Laurel would have to be played at Laurel instead due to wet field conditions.

The sudden venue change didn’t appear to bother the Panthers, who jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 10-1 win over the Spartans in a Prince George’s County 4A League contest.

“We have always hit the ball well,” Panthers’ assistant coach Fred Howse said. “We haven’t played very well defensively, but we played a good defensive game today. We had one error, and we got some good pitching today; that was a big thing also. All around, this is our best game that we’ve played.”

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Howse and fellow assistant Sheldon Dunbar coached the team in place of head coach Charles Mackey, who missed the game due to illness.

“From the start, we just had the mindset that we’re going to come out here and leave it all on the field,” senior catcher Eli Deogracia said. “That was just our motivation. Our coach couldn’t be here today with us, and we dedicate this game to him.”

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Due to the location change, the Panthers served as the home team. They sat in the home dugout and batted in the bottom – or home half – of each inning. Parkdale is slated to host Bowie Friday and travel to C.H. Flowers on Saturday, but with rain in the forecast for both days, those plans may change as well.

“Our field doesn’t drain well – at all,” Howse said. “When I looked out the window early this morning from the classroom, I knew we weren’t going to be playing at home today. But I was hoping we could get it in, because we don’t need these games to be backing up on us.”

Dunbar said the decision to change fields came at the last minute.

“I’d say about 45 minutes before we were getting ready, they said, ‘Hey, you’re going to Laurel,’” he said.

Nevertheless, the Panthers (3-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Spartans (3-3) scored a run in the top of the fourth inning.

Parkdale scored in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 4-1, and added five more runs in the fifth to extend their lead to 9-1. They finished the scoring with a run in the sixth.

“We were outplayed,” Laurel coach Bryan Harris said. “And I don’t mean this as a ding at all to Parkdale, because they played a great game; I’m not going to say that we’re better than them, but I think we can play with them. I think we’re comparable. That being said, today we didn’t prove it at all. They completely outplayed us and they deserved everything that they got today.”

The win was the second in a row for Parkdale, which also owns wins over DuVal and Oxon Hill. The Panthers’ two losses came to High Point and Northwestern.

“We should have been 5-0,” Howze said. “The first two games, I guess, we made a few errors and that hurt us a little bit and so forth, you know? But today, we made some good plays. My third baseman [sophomore Kelvin Reyes], he played a hell of a game today –he made two or three good plays.”

It was indeed another step in the right direction for Parkdale, which came into the season with an inexperienced roster that included seven freshmen. One of those freshmen – pitcher Naja Garcia – picked up the win on the mound Thursday.

 “We started off a little shaky,” Deogracia said. “Just not concentrating enough – we’d start off good and finish bad – and now we’re picking up the pace and we’re starting good and finishing good. With a little bit more hard work, we’re going to be the best.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Riverdale Park-University Park