Through 40 innings this season, Ryan Rivers had walked just six batters.
But the 6-foot-5 right-hander lost his command in the third inning at Saturday?s 2A state championship at Ripken Stadium, and an inning later, the UNC-Charlotte recruit was out of the game.
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No worries though, as left-hander Josh Kempa picked up his senior classmate and pitched Eastern Tech (19-2) to its second state championship in three years, defeating Middletown (18-4) Saturday evening at Ripken Stadium.
“It?s a lot of the same,” Mavericks coach Spike McElfish said of the similarities between this team and the 2005 champs. “We?re not flashy. Short of Rivers, we?re not going to have 20-strikeout games. What keeps us in games is our good, solid, fundamental defense.”
In the top of the fifth, Mavericks junior shortstop Ricky Willis atoned for a pair of earlier errors by going with an outside fastball and stroking it through the left side for a two-run single and a 3-2 lead.
“I had to help my team in some way. I had to pickup my teammates, and I had to pick up myself from the first inning,” Willis said. “That was the best way I could help my team.”
Kempa had a hand in the inning too, poking a single to right field that would plate Tech?s first run of the game. But the real story for the 6-foot-1 lefty was his work on the mound, as he cruised to earn the victory ? his seventh of the season.
“Ryan said he was a little tired,” McElfish said. “He probably could have gone another inning, but with Josh fresh and ready, there was no sense in chancing it.”
Kempa struck out seven over the game?s final four innings.
As the players received their trophies, the Mavericks faithful surrounded the third base dugout showering their heroes with chants of the word “dynasty.” Having just completed their fifth consecutive trip to the state final four, that claim certainly has some backing.
Eastern Tech ended the season on an 17-game winning streak, and will send at least four seniors on to collegiate careers. Aside from Rivers, Kempa (CCBC-Dundalk), Mike Sokolis (CCBC-Essex) and Ray Zacharski (CCBC-Essex) will play in college.
