The Baltimore metro area will have a state baseball champion for the 25th straight year.
With Centennial and Westminster squaring off in the Class 3A state semifinal ? the four-game tournament finale at 7 Saturday night at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen ? local baseball fans are guaranteed a winner.
Centennial (20-4) looks for title No. 3 after winning 2001 and in 2004, when a handful of this year?s seniors were freshmen.
“They?re excited,” Eagles coach Denis Ahearn said of his club. “The state championship is the pinnacle of public high school sports. When you?re starting on March 1, our goal has been to end on a win.”
Standing in the way will be Westminster (14-8) and 6-foot-5 senior right-handed pitcher Brett Harman. Ahearn expects to see Harman, but hasn?t decided on his starter.
“I?m holding off to see how guys throw and see who is the most comfortable,” Ahearn said.
Westminster reached the semifinals in 2005 ? the fourth time the Owls have done so ? but they make their first final appearance Saturday.
2A STATE FINAL
The third Baltimore-area representative, Eastern Tech (18-2) chases down its second championship ? having won in 2005 ? in its third consecutive state tournament appearance. Pitching is on the Mavericks? side, as Ryan Rivers leads a staff that also includes left-hander Josh Kempa. Eastern Tech battles Middletown (18-3), which is making its first finals appearance since 1982, on Saturday at 4:30 in Aberdeen. Middletown (Frederick County) has never won a state title.
1A & 4A FINALS
Arundel and C. Milton Wright met in the 4A championship last spring, but no locals made it this time around, as Sherwood (20-0) and Eleanor Roosevelt (21-1) will battle in a Prince George?s-Montgomery showdown today. The game, originally scheduled for tonight at Ripken Stadium, will now be played at Joe Cannon Stadium at 3.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
TODAY
(At Joe Cannon Stadium in Severn)
4A » Sherwood vs. Eleanor Roosevelt, 3
SATURDAY
(All at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen)
1A » Northern Garrett vs. Colonel Richardson, 1
2A » Eastern Tech vs. Middletown, 4:30
3A » Centennial vs. Westminster, 7
