Yesterday afternoon, just 24 hours after humbling previously unbeaten Portledge in an 11-0 win, the Bears took control of the East Division with a dominant 14-0 victory over the Panthers. UConn-bound junior Joe Wozny was the catalyst on the mound and at the plate, striking out 11 and yielding just one hit, while knocking in 6 RBIs in a 3-for-4 day at the dish.

After Wozny used just ten pitches to get through the top of the 1st, the Blue & White offense picked up where it left off on Monday by bringing in three runs in the bottom half. Seamus Scanlon led off with a single, stole second, then came all the way around on an errant throw following a Wozny single. Tim Wozny followed with a one-out double to left that plated his older brother before an Aidan Mega single scored Wozny for a 3-0 advantage.

The Panthers’ only hit of the game opened the 2nd, but the next three batters fell victim to the strikeout as Wozny found his form. Of the 11 pitches he threw to those three batters, nine were strikes, as he overpowered Portledge hitting with his velocity. A Joe Wozny two-run double and a Tim Wozny sacrifice fly added a trio of runs in the bottom half as the Bear lead increased to 6-0. In the bottom of the 3rd, Scanlon drew a bases-loaded walk before Joe Wozny laced a two-run single as the Bear lead swelled to 9-0.

Three more strikeouts in the top of the 4th for Wozny gave way to a five-run bottom that brought the mercy rule into play. Bases loaded walks for Emman Ajewole and Dan Rueda, productive groundouts from Jack Derco and Joe Wozny, and a bases-loaded walk for Sam Nuamah left the Brook up 14-0. Wozny needed just nine pitches to emphatically nail down the win in the top of the 5th to close out the Bears’ sixth mercy-rule shortened game in their seven league wins.

Wozny provided nearly half the Bears’ offense, but Scanlon, T. J. Wachter, Tim Wozny, Nuamah, Mega, Ajewole, and Rueda each added an RBI to round out a balanced offense that rapped out 12 hits on the day. Though the Panthers committed just one error, down from seven the day before, the Bear offense was simply unstoppable, saddling Portledge pitching with 25 runs and 23 hits over the last two days. The Bear defense was equally fearsome over the two-game stretch, stymieing what had before this week been the PSAA’s most potent offense at 13.1 runs per game with 20 strikeouts, 0 runs, and just 4 hits in 11 innings.

With the win, the Bears improve to 7-0 in the PSAA and take a big step toward their first title since the 1999 team won the Long Island Championship. They have a chance to clinch at least a share of the regular season East Division title with a win at Waldorf this afternoon.

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