Sykesville Post 223 Pulls Away From Woodsboro, Wins 13-3 in First Game of Doubleheader

It was another shaky start for Sykesville, which found itself in an early hole after the top of the second inning, but mistakes by Woodsboro and timely hitting were enough to push Sykesville over the top.

Sykesville came into the game with a record of 13-17-1, fresh off a victory over Frederick the previous day. Post 223 had little to play for as they weren’t in contention for winning the district, but pride was on the line Sunday at Liberty High School.

Sykesville got on the board early in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout by Bradley Martin, but the lead was short lived. In the next half inning Woodsboro plated three after some sloppy play by Sykesville, to take a 3-1 lead.

There was a scary moment in the bottom of the inning, when Sykesville player Joe Rekus was struck in the head with a fastball. The pitch appeared to directly hit the batters face, and he was taken to a medical facility for examination.

In the bottom of the second, Robert Martin hit a solo homerun to left center to lead off the inning. Despite the stop in momentum as a result of the injury to Rekus, Sykesville managed to tie up the game after an RBI walk by Caleb Ludwig. After that point it was all Sykesville.

After another hit batter to lead off the third inning, Patrick Engle crushed a two run homerun to left to put Sykesville ahead for good 5-3. They scored eight more runs over the next three innings, mostly due to erratic pitching on the part of Woodsboro.

Woodsboro walked eight batters as a team, and hit three more batters. Sykesville, despite poor base running and fielding at times, was given far too many opportunities to score due to shaky pitching, and they made Woodsboro pay.

On the mound, Sykesville starter Patrick Engle proved that he could do more than just hit homeruns. Engle pitched a complete game, scattering six hits over five innings. The defense didn’t do him any favors, allowing three errors that put Engle in a few tense situations, but he was able to get clutch outs when he needed to. Engle’s final line was 5 IP, 3 R (2 earned), 6 H, 1 BB.

Shawn McMahon went 2-3 with an RBI double, and Jonathan Money also had a good performance going 2-4 with a double and a couple runs scored.

The win pushes Sykesville to 14-17-1, who hope to continue their strong play in July when they take the field for the second leg of the doubleheader later this afternoon.