Hames makes most of his influence on mound as Gaels claim Old Line title

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Baseball has its own brand of people who call the shots in a game.

They’re called pitchers.

St. Maria Goretti’s Ty Hames gladly accepted the position Wednesday.

Hames didn’t have the dominant performance a team would like in a championship game. But he was wily enough to avoid disaster and lead the Gaels to a 6-1 victory over Fairfax for the Old Line League title.

“To be honest, I didn’t stress with runners on base when we were up 4-1,” Hames said. “I didn’t get nervous. I knew my defense would play behind me and I had the ball in my hand.”

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The guy with the ball usually controls most games. Hames may not have dominated, but he did do enough to keep the Hawks at bay and mostly off the scoreboard.

Hames bobbed and weaved his way through four innings — with the help of a three-run first — to get the outs he needed to keep the Gaels on top.

Other than allowing a run in the second inning on a passed ball, Hames stranded six Fairfax runners on base — five in scoring position — to maintain Goretti’s lead.

“I was trying to get outs … not strikeouts,” he said. “I got four strong innings.”

The victory finished a 21-4 season for the Gaels. The last time coach Greg Eversole had a 21-win team, he won a state championship wi South Hagerstown.

“We only had one senior on this team,” Eversole said. “He got hurt early in the season and played most of the time as a designated hitter. We will have everybody back next year.”

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The final could have been more one-sided. Goretti stranded 16 runners on base, including 11 in the first four innings.

“That’s youth,” Eversole said. “We hit the ball right at people a lot. Those will get by people when they are juniors and seniors, when they get stronger and turn on the ball more. But we have been the Cardiac Kids, scoring runs late to win games.

“It’s a credit to the kids. We have 11 who can play the game, support each other and have fun doing it.”

Goretti did all the damage it needed with the three-run first inning, all coming on one hit. The first run scored when Parker Sweeney reached on an error, and a Warner Harper single and a wild pitch scored the other two.

The Gaels added a run in the second and another in the third to build a 5-1 lead. Hames had an RBI single in the second and Will Oates cashed in with a run-scoring hit in the third.

The final run came in the sixth on a monster home run to left by Harper.

Hames allowed one run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Colin Fulmer pitched the final three shutout innings, allowing one hit with two walks and three strikeouts.

Goretti finished with seven hits, led by Harper’s two and two RBIs. The Gaels also drew with walks.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Goretti closes baseball season with Old Line League championship