Hagerstown Braves return to South Penn championship series looking for different result

Daniel Kauffman, The Herald-Mail
·4 min read

For the second straight summer, the Hagerstown Braves have steamrolled through the South Penn Baseball League and into a championship series against the Cashtown Pirates.

This time, the Braves want a happy ending.

Hagerstown entered last year's best-of-five finale undefeated in league play at 34-0-1, while Cashtown entered with a 30-6 record. The Braves dominated Games 1 and 4, but scored just four runs total in the other three games as the Pirates won Game 2 (3-2), Game 3 (2-0) and Game 5 (3-2).

This year, the Braves are 34-3 overall and 33-2 in league play, including a perfect 5-0 through the playoff quarterfinals and semifinals. They will host Cashtown in Game 1 on Thursday evening at North Hagerstown High School.

"We've had great back-to-back seasons with good playoff runs, but we need to finish it," said Braves player/manager Justin Lewis. "That's our goal, to finish it."

Summer baseball: Hagerstown Braves advance to South Penn Baseball League championship series

Hagerstown Braves leadoff hitter Jarrett Biesecker gets a fist bump at first base after hitting a single during Game 3 of the South Penn Baseball League semifinal series against the Frederick Flying Dogs on Saturday at North Hagerstown High School.
Hagerstown Braves leadoff hitter Jarrett Biesecker gets a fist bump at first base after hitting a single during Game 3 of the South Penn Baseball League semifinal series against the Frederick Flying Dogs on Saturday at North Hagerstown High School.

Braves bring big bats

The Braves have scored 360 runs with a team batting average of .395, an on-base percentage of .496 and a slugging percentage of .602.

"It's just a matter of time before we click and get a couple big hits and start scoring runs," Lewis said. "We average around 10 runs a game, so sooner or later things are going to click and we're going to score some runs."

The top hitters for the Braves are:

  • Jarrett Biesecker — The Waynesboro graduate leads Hagerstown with a .477 average as the team's leadoff man, and has scored a team-high 53 runs.

  • Ryan Talbert — The North Hagerstown graduate is hitting .438 with the team's top slugging percentage (.798), with 13 doubles, five triples and three homers.

  • Chanse Phillips — The South Hagerstown graduate, who played for Hagerstown Community College, is hitting .432, with 12 of his 35 hits going for extra bases.

  • Matt Kulikowski — The Boonsboro graduate, who played for HCC, is hitting .397, with 11 of his 29 hits going for extra bases.

  • Adam Mathias — The Boonsboro graduate is hitting .400 with a .791 slugging percentage that ranks second on the team. Of his 46 hits, half have gone for extra bases, including a team-high 10 homers.

  • Justin Lewis — The Boonsboro graduate is hitting .402 and ranks second on the team in runs scored with 49. His .562 on-base percentage leads the team, thanks to 28 walks.

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Hagerstown Braves starter Ethan Caudo fires a pitch in the first inning as third baseman Justin Lewis watches during Game 3 of the South Penn Baseball League semifinal series Saturday at North Hagerstown High School. Caudo struck out 10 over six innings for the win as Hagerstown claimed a 10-4 victory and a sweep of the series. The Braves will host Game 1 of the championship series Thursday evening.

A pitching staff of aces

Hagerstown backs its bats with a bevy of talented pitchers. As a team, the Braves have a 1.50 ERA, allowing 151 hits in 220 innings with 279 strikeouts.

"The arms are great," Lewis said. "We have faith in all of them to come out and shove it, so we're good there."

The top pitchers for the Braves are:

  • Wyatt Freeman — In a team-high 46 innings, the Waynesboro graduate who also played for Hagerstown Community College has posted a 10-0 record with a 1.83 ERA and 56 strikeouts, allowing 34 hits and 14 walks.

  • Ethan Caudo — Caudo, a Smithsburg graduate, is 5-0 with a save and a 2.25 ERA over 28 innings. He has struck out 34 and allowed 22 hits and 11 walks.

  • Ryan Clark — Clark, a North Hagerstown graduate who played for HCC, is 5-0 with a 1.36 ERA over 25 2/3 innings, allowing 16 hits and nine walks while striking out 40. His strikeouts per inning ratio of 1.56 is the best among the Braves' regular starters.

  • Mikey Hawbaker — Hawbaker, a South Hagerstown graduate who played for HCC, is 5-0 and has allowed just three runs (none of them earned) in his 25 innings. He has struck out 37 and allowed 13 hits and three walks, with a sensational 0.64 WHIP (walks and hits allowed per inning pitched).

Five other pitchers have thrown at least 10 innings: Bronson Taylor (0-1, 0.87 ERA in 16 innings), Tim Mellott (2-0, 1.50 ERA in 14 innings), Chris Chaney (1-0, 2.50 ERA in 14 innings), Colby Maun (2-0, one save, no earned runs, just six hits and no walks allowed in 14 innings) and Steven Ricketts (1-1, 1.08 ERA in 13 innings).

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown Braves ready for second straight South Penn Baseball final

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