CHESAPEAKE CITY — Evan Wilson had yet to see a plate appearance in Wednesday’s Class 1A region matchup between Bohemia Manor and Harford Tech. When Wilson got his named called in the bottom half of the fifth, he stepped to the plate with a chance to walk things off via mercy rule.
“Just kind of staying loose, not getting too worried or caught up in the moment,” Wilson said of his approach at the plate. “Just know that I am in the game for a reason and do the job the coaches want me to do.”
After working a full count, Wilson drove the pay-off pitch down the left field line, scored the game-ending run and gave Bo Manor its 11th win of the year.
“The feeling of knowing that beating a team as good as Harford Tech and being able to end up with that hit, it’s just the best feeling,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s RBI capped off a day that saw the Eagles move into first place of its region with two games remaining in the regular season. Bohemia Manor sat in second place of its region entering Wednesday, while Harford Tech held the top spot.
“I tell the kids for years ‘do the big things right and the little things will take care of themselves,’” Bohemia Manor head coach Ray Polaski said. “We had awesome pitching, timely hitting, awesome fielding and we ran the bases well. We played a complete game.”
Starter Chris Harris pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just five hits and no walks. While Harris finished with no strikeouts, the Bo Manor junior relied on the eight fielders surrounding the mound to get outs. Bo’s defense finished with three double plays across the second, fourth and fifth innings. The Eagles last — a 4-6-3 double play in the top of the fifth — ended the inning and sent Bo Manor to bat with a chance to walk things off. Harris received contributions in the outfield as well, including a diving catch by center fielder Nate Fleming to end the fourth inning. Bo Manor finished the day with no errors, compared to Harford Tech’s four.
“He hits his spots and throws them where he needs to throw them, good velocity and good location,” Polaski said of Harris. “That is all we can ask for.”
Harris trusts his fielders behind him to make plays when it matters most.
“I try and just pitch to contact and that’s what I did today. Our middle infielders played a heck of a game,” Harris said of shortstop Braden Paris and second baseman Brayden Valle. “You don’t need no strikeouts. Outs are outs.”
Bo Manor’s offense finished the day with 11 hits and scored two or more runs in four of the five innings played. The Eagles took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with back-to-back RBI doubles from Austin Farrow and Preston Emmerson. Bo Manor grew its lead to five in the second off three more RBIs from Evan Wood, Fleming and Harris. Wood drove in his second RBI of the day in the home half of the third to push Bo’s advantage to seven. The Eagles loaded the bases off three straight walks to start the fifth inning. A past ball scoring Colton Leitgeb and a fielder’s choice by Andrew Connolley put Bo Manor up nine. Wood and Connolley each finished the day with two hits.
The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak in mid-April and have not lost since. The win against Harford Tech increased Bo’s winning streak to six games. Bo Manor hosts Edgewood on Friday and will face Perryville Monday at Chesapeake City Little League to close out the regular season.
“We have to take take everybody serious, no matter what,” Wood said of what the team learned in the middle of its losing skid. “No matter their record or how good somebody is, you have to take them serious. Every single person.”
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