Spalding is not an athletic program known just for its boys basketball program.
It turns out a spring boys? team is also making a name for itself.
The Cavaliers, the baseball version, were a relatively unknown commodity entering a recent Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference game against Calvert Hall.
But the Cavaliers scrambled, hustled, and eventually stunned top-ranked visiting Calvert Hall, 8-2, to end the Cardinals 38-game winning streak that dated back to the 2005 season.
“At some point this year I expected us to play that well,” Spalding coach Steve Miller said this past weekend. “When it?s cold outside it can be hard sometimes to get some offense going.”
Added Miller: But the weather warmed up, we got a little confidence with our bats and it all came together at one time. Everyone contributed, and we showed a lot of heart.”
Calvert Hall coach Lou Eckerl was equally impressed.
“We didn?t get any breaks and Spalding played very well,” he said. “My hat goes off to them.”
The dramatic victory didn?t surprise senior first baseman/designated hiter Chris Huisman, who had three singles and an RBI in four plate appearances in the game.
“I think it?s just we work really hard in the off-season, and it?s paying off now,” said Huisman, who is headed to nearby Johns Hopkins University. “We came out with great intensity, and we have a bunch of young players who have really stepped up for us.”
Case in point: left-hander Paul DeVito, one of five sophomores who start for the Cavaliers this season. DeVito was a big part of the win against Calvert Hall.
“The bats finally came alive and this should be the spark that we need to finish the year strong,” said DeVito, who allowed two hits in five innings of work, striking out five, in the momentum-changing win against Calvert Hall. “We wanted it more than them. That was it.”
POWER NUMBERS
» Did you know? Chris Huisman hit three home runs in four games last week for the Cavaliers, and currently sports a .563 batting average. He was 10-for-16 and drove in six runs during Spalding?s last four games … Senior Greg Sneeringer and sophomore Jeff Kemp each had two-run homers in the upset win over Calvert Hall.
» Up next: Spalding plays at Loyola at 4 p.m. today.
