Glenelg baseball builds early lead, defeats Fallston, 8-2, for return trip to 2A state championship game
Glenelg baseball knows its winning recipe: good pitching, good defense and timely hitting.
In each of the Gladiators’ three losses this season, that formula escaped them. However, Tuesday night at Joe Cannon Stadium, the No. 3 seed Gladiators followed the recipe precisely. Junior Nick Bilotto pitched a three-hitter, striking out eight, while the offense capitalized early in an 8-2 win over No. 6 seed Fallston in the Class 2A state semifinals.
Glenelg (18-3) advances to its second 2A state title game in the past three seasons and will face either top-seeded Patuxent or No. 4 seed Middletown at 4 p.m. Saturday at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf.
“If you throw strikes, play good defense and get timely hits, you’ll be tough to beat,” Glenelg coach Steve Tiffany said. “We also talk about our goal of playing our best baseball toward the end of the year. We’ve slowly gotten there. The bats are starting to come around. We’re in a good spot and we get Zach LaFountain [on the mound] to go win it all, sign me up for that.”
Glenelg’s offense didn’t wait long to get on the board. The Gladiators benefited from a Cougars throwing error that scored Danny Dorsey and put Bilotto on third in the first inning. Seniors Logan Pusheck and Nick Emig tacked onto the lead with sacrifice flies, giving Glenelg an early three-run cushion.
However, they were just getting started. The Gladiators tacked on three more runs in the second, capitalizing on a second Fallston error. Senior Michael Tolle ripped a two-RBI double down the first base line, which was quickly followed by an RBI single from LaFountain to push the advantage to six after two innings. Bilotto only gained confidence from there, blowing fastballs by the Cougars and mixing his offspeed pitch for strikeouts.
“It just changes the mindset a little bit,” Bilotto said. “You don’t have to execute everything perfectly. You can let them hit it. You can let off the gas a little bit, try and throw less pitches, a little less effort, which is nice. I’m really happy with my slider; that’s a great out pitch for me. It gets so many swings and misses and I wouldn’t be able to do it without that pitch.”
After the early hole, Fallston turned to senior Paul Kvech to come on in relief. He allowed just one run in the next two innings, as the Cougars broke the shutout with two runs in the fifth. Drew Rommel highlighted the frame with a double, but Bilotto limited any further damage.
Two innings later, Bilotto put the finishing touches on a dominant outing. One final strikeout sent the Gladiators one step closer to their ultimate goal.
Saturday’s state title game will be a mix of new and old for the Gladiators. LaFountain and Pusheck were starters on the 2022 state championship team. However, many of the other seniors such as Tolle and Nick Emig get to make mark their mark as critical components of this year’s group. Also, underclassmen such as shortstop Blake Bourne and second basemen Austin Nazelrod will be making their first appearances on that grand stage.
“All of our guys have stepped up,” Tiffany said. “There’s just the belief, at practice we’re nonchalant and have fun. We’re just prepared and ready. It’s just a fun group that you can tell and I’ve said for the last couple of weeks now, ‘We’ve got something special going, be smart, get to class and do all those things to keep it going.'”
Saturday’s opportunity will be uniquely special for LaFountain. He was a pivotal part of the Gladiators’ rotation in 2022, earning the state semifinal win that season. He missed much of last season with an injury, but Saturday afternoon in Waldorf, LaFountain will have the chance to be the guy as the Gladiators look to capture the program’s seventh state title.
“Having a great ride as a senior, especially all these kids fighting for us, just knowing I got one more start on the mound,” LaFountain said of his excitement. “We got Nick going again, you can’t ask for anything better. The biggest thing is remembering to stay relaxed and have fun. We’re all just kids having fun out here, playing baseball. The biggest thing is we want to win, but this team is a family to all of us.”
Fallston — 000 020 0 — 2 3 2
Glenelg — 330 101 X — 8 10 2
WP: Nicholas Bilotto; LP: Noah Bark
2B: F- Drew Rommel; G- Michael Tolle.