WILMINGTON — Brady Harach had three hits, five runs batted in and a run scored, and he struck out four batters in his 1.2 innings of relief pitching as Wilmington Charter defeated Archmere in Diamond State Athletic Conference baseball, 8-1, on April 12 at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Force.
The Force struck first in the bottom of the first against Auks starter Tommy Penrod. Kevin Callahan singled to left with one out, and Will Outslay walked. The cleanup hitter, Brady Harach, drove a ball over the head of Archmere centerfielder Chris Albero, who caught it on one hop with his back to the infield. Callahan saw that the ball dropped and scored, but Albero threw to shortstop Alex MacWilliams, who tagged Outslay for the second out.
Charter loaded the bases with a single and a walk, but Penrod got out of the inning on a comebacker to the mound. He threw home for the third out.
The Force added a two-out run in the third on a run-scoring double by Tyler Kreps, but the real damage came in the fourth. Ryan Terranova walked to open the inning and stole second. After Penrod caught a bunt that was popped up, Max Aukamp and Sam Lefton singled, bringing Terranova home. That was all for Penrod. The relief pitcher, Jonathan O’Boyle, induced a flyout, but Outslay walked to load the bases, and Harach doubled down the left field line to score two more to increase the lead to 5-0.
Meanwhile, Outslay was having a pretty successful night on the mound. He allowed just four baserunners through the first five innings, and two of them were erased on double plays. The other two Auks reached with two outs and were stranded.
Archmere had just two hits entering the sixth inning, but MacWilliams opened the frame with a single. The next batter, Albero, grounded into a fielder’s choice. He then proceeded to steal second and third base, and on the steal of third, he came home when the throw from the catcher got through the fielder and rolled into the outfield.
Outslay then walked Matt Keen, and he was relieved by Harach, who was as effective on the mound as he was at the plate. After walking Nick Zhu to put runners at first and second, Harach got out of the sixth on a fly out and a strikeout.
Charter added three more runs in their half of the sixth, two on a long double by Harach, and that was more than enough for the Force on this night. Harach completed his stellar night by striking out the side in the top of the seventh, with all three Auks caught looking.
Drew Brady also reached base three times for Charter, driving in a run and scoring another. Callahan had a pair of hits and scored both times he was on base. The Force finished with 11 hits. Outslay and Harach combined to strike out seven Auks. Charter (2-5) travels to Concord on Thursday for a 3:45 p.m. first pitch.
The Auks finished with three hits. Their pitchers combined for five strikeouts. Archmere (5-2) is back in action Tuesday, also at Concord, but the Easter break start time is 11 a.m.
All photos by Nick Halliday.
