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Whitman Rally Falls Short Against Northwest
April 17, 2009 --
A valiant seventh-inning comeback effort came up just short and the Walt Whitman Vikings fell 6-4 to the Northwest Jaguars on Friday afternoon in a battle of 5-1 teams.
The Vikings (5-2) trailed 6-2 going into the seventh inning. With one out, Jesse Mates drilled a single to right-center, Max Hilbert drew a walk after falling behind 0-2, and Ethan Thompson singled to load the bases. Clean-up hitter Chris Kelly walked to force home one run and make it 6-3 with the bases still loaded.
That brought up Dan Novak, who calmly delivered his second single of the day, a line drive to right. Hilbert scored easily, but Thompson was called out on a controversial play at the plate for the second out. The final batter struck out with the tying run on first base.
Northwest took an early lead, scoring twice in the first inning. But Whitman battled back to tie with single runs in the third and fourth.
Whitman scored in the third when Danny Lee reached on an error by the left fielder, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Berman, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mates. Whitman scored with two out in the fourth inning. Danny Williams blasted a two-hop double off the wall in left-center and came home when Lee dropped a bloop single down the left-field line.
The game was notted at 2 in the fifth inning, when Northwest broke it open with a four runs, including a two-run home run. Thompson (2-2) took the loss for the Vikings.
The Vikings played a sterling defensive game, defusing several Jaguar rallies with great plays. Thompson twice picked lead-off runners off first base. Danny Lee threw a runner out stealing to open the fourth inning. And the outfield made several tough plays on long fly balls.
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Whitman Comes from Behind to Derail Walter Johnson
April 18, 2009 --
Down 7-1 late in the game, the Walt Whitman Vikings (6-2) rallied for four runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth to defeat the Walter Johnson Wildcats 9-7 in the first half of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday at Whitman.
Senior Ethan Thompson laced a sinking liner to right field that scored two and tied the game in the sixth inning. Later in the inning, Dan Novak drove home the winning run with his third single of the game, and Danny Lee hit a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.
The outburst made a winner out of Ross Olchyk (1-0) who came on in relief of starter Reid Kellam and held the Wildcats scoreless. Freshman Michael Flack earned the save. Entering with one on and no one out in the seventh, he struck out the first two batters on fastballs and coaxed a ground ball out from Robin Mowatt, one of the county's leading hitters, to end the game.
This was the second time in as many games that the Vikings, faced with big deficits, refused to go quietly. Held to only three hits through four innings by Walter Johnson's crafty starter, the Vikings seem to sleepwalk early. They woke up in the fifth inning, after Jesse Mates hit what looked to be a routine grounder to shortstop.
The ball was thrown high to first base and when the first baseman tried to tag Mates the ball flew out of his glove. Mates alertly took second on the play. Max Hilbert followed with a single into the hole at shortstop. Thompson drove in one run with a soft liner to right-center. Chris Kelly had the big blow of the inning--a line drive double over the centerfielder's head that scored two.
Olchyk pitched himself out of a jam in the top of the sixth. Mates started the Whitman rally again in the bottom of the sixth, driving a double into the right-centerfield gap. After Hilbert walked, Thompson hit his two-run double to right. Kelly walked to put runners on first and third, then Novak singled home the winning run. Danny Lee put the icing on the cake with a sacrifice fly to left, making it 9-7.
The Vikings played another great defensive play. Senior third baseman Danny Williams had six assists, knocking down two balls that appeared headed down the line for extra-base hits. Centerfielder Hilbert ranged far and wide to track down fly balls. Flack had the defensive play of the game, gunning down a runner trying to take third from right field.
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Whitman Rallies Once More to Beat Gaithersburg
April 18, 2009 --
Once again, Walt Whitman fell behind early, giving up three runs in the top of the first. But once again the Vikings rallied, this time to defeat Gaithersburg 12-6 in the second half of a day-night doubleheader played at Whitman on Saturday.
The victory was especially sweet for Whitman (7-2) given that Gaithersburg had knocked them out of the playoffs the year before. Freshman Michael Flack picked up the victory for the Vikings, with the help of some strong relief from Ross Olchyk, Danny Shannahan, and Danny Williams.
Lead-off batter Jesse Mates was the hitting star for the Vikings. He cleared the bases with a screaming line-drive double to center in the six-run Whitman second inning. And he hit a solo, inside-the-park homer over the center fielder's head to lead off the sixth inning. Stroked to the deepest part of the park, there wasn't even a play on Mates at the plate.
Nearly every Viking hitter contributed to the attack. With his team down 3-0 in the second, Chris Kelly roped a double to left-center to open the inning. Daniel Novak, who has been on a tear, hit one off the end of the bat that fell in front of the third baseman for an infield single. With the first baseman holding Novak, Danny Lee drove a single through the right side of the infield to make it 3-1. In one of the key at-bats of the inning, Sam Sharpe walked on nine pitches, fouling off several nasty pitches on the outside corner. Mates then followed with his bases-loaded double to put Whitman ahead 4-3.
Max Hilbert drove home Mates with a solid two-strike single up the middle. Hilbert eventually scored on an infield single by Ethan Thompson that was bobbled momentarily by the short stop, giving the fleet Hilbert enough time to round third and scoot home, making it 6-3.
The game, however, was far from over. The Trojans struck for a run in the top of the fourth and may have scored more if not for Shannahan, who came on in relief to get the final two outs against the middle part of the Trojan order.
In the bottom of the fourth, after singles by Sharpe and Hilbert, Thompson drove in what proved to be the winning run with a single to left field, his second of three hits on the day. He is hitting .567 on the season.
Gaithersburg scored two more times in the top of the fifth to close to within 7-6. Ross Olchyk entered in relief with the bases loaded. He gave up one run on a squeeze play. But then, with the infield playing in, he coaxed a weak ground ball to short for the second out, and struck out the next batter for the final out of the inning.
Whitman scored a solo tally in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-6. After Danny Williams reached on an error, Michael Flak doubled to move him to third. Williams scored on a ground ball to first base by Danny Lee, who has 17 RBI for the Vikings, one of the highest totals in the county.
The Vikings put the game out of reach with four runs in the sixth inning. After Mates' lead-off homer, Hilbert was hit by a pitch, stole second, and moved to third on Thompson's infield single. He scored when an errant pick-off throw went into foul territory. Later in the inning, Flack delivered a two-run single to cement the victory for himself.
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Whitman Puts Hurt on Paint Branch
April 7, 2009 --
Danny Lee recorded four hits, including a 400-foot home run to right-center, powering the Walt Whitman Vikings to a 17-7 pasting of Paint Branch (4-2) on Tuesday afternoon.
Ethan Thompson (2-1) picked up the victory for the 5-1 Vikings, going five innings and allowing only two earned runs. The game was played under frigid conditions, with snow flurries and swirling winds. Wind chill at game time: an unofficial 29 degrees.
The game was actually much closer than the final score would indicate. The Panthers struck first, stringing together three hits in the first inning to score two runs.
The Vikings returned the favor in top of the second. After Danny Williams reached on an error, Danny Lee smacked a run-scoring double to right-center. Later in the inning, Michael Flack coaxed a single through the left side of the infield and eventually scored on a passed ball.
The scored was notted at two in the top of the third inning when Thompson roped a double to left-center. Dan Novak singled him home and took second on a play at the plate. He eventually scored on a single by Williams, who had three hits and four RBI on the day.
The Panthers clawed back in the bottom of the third. With runners on second and third and one out, Thompson fell behind 3-0 to the Paint Branch clean-up hitter, who eventually hit a sharp come-backer to the mound. Thompson caught the runner at third in a run-down and flipped to catcher Lee who made the tag. Shortstop Jesse Mates Jesse Mates caught a tailing liner on his backhand for the final out of the inning, the ball showing through the web of his glove.
The momentum turned after that half inning. Whitman errupted for five runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Lee and Mates singled to start the festivities. They were on second and third with one out when Thompson drilled a fast ball to left to score them and make it 6-2. After two more runners reached on errors, Williams doubled to center to drive in two more runs, making it 9-2.
The Vikings scored runs on errors in the fifth and sixth innings. Lee also singled home Chris Kelly who had walked in the sixth inning.
Whitman broke it open for five more runs in the seventh frame. Sam Sharpe tripled to right, scoring Jason Keene who had walked and Brett Morgenstern who had singled. After Williams tripled home Sharpe, Danny Lee put a fitting punctuation on the game, clobbering a home run to right center that may have rolled onto Colesville Pike.
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Whitman Shuts Out Springbrook
April 6, 2009 --
The Walt Whitman Vikings continued their offensive ways, shutting out Springbrook 13-0 in a rainy afternoon game.
Junior Reid Kellam (2-0) picked up the victory for the Vikings, who improved their record to 4-1. Kellam gave up only one hit in a game ended by slaughter after six innings.
The offense was led by Max Hilbert, who belted two triples, which both reached the fence in left-center. Catcher Danny Lee drove in four runs. Ethan Thompson drove in two on two hits. Lead-off hitter Jesse Mates recorded two solid hits.
Whitman played flawless defense behind Kellam, who recorded about nine strikeouts. The Vikings didn't commit an error. Left-fielder Daniel Novak made a good catch on a line drive and on another occasion threw out a runner at third.
Whitman started off slow. Base-running mistakes ended the first two rallies. But the Vikings struck for eight runs in the third inning to put the game out of reach.
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Whitman Pounds Poolesville
April 1, 2009 --
The Walt Whitman Vikings regained their winning ways pounding out 17 hits en route to a 21-1 slaughter of Poolesville under drizzly conditions at Whitman on Wednesday night.
Michael Flack led the way for the Vikings on the mound and at the plate. The freshman pitched five innings to earn his first high school victory, striking out 10 and allowing only two hits. He also drove in two runs with two hits.
The game was something between a tag-team slugfest (Whitman batted around the order twice) and a swamp romp (both teams had trouble with the rain-soaked conditions). Whitman set what must be a record: All 15 players who batted managed to score at least one run.
The 3-1 Vikings quickly put the game out of reach, scoring eight times in the first inning. They struck for nine more runs in the third inning. They batted around the order in each of those innings.
The Vikings had several hitting stars. Jesse Mates and Daniel Berman each recorded three RBI. Berman was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate. Clean-up hitter Chris Kelly hit a memorable, towering double over the centerfielder’s head in the third inning.
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Whitman Battles Back to Beat Einstein
March 24, 2009 --
DH Jason Keene got it started. With Whitman in the unlikely position of being behind 4-2 to Einstein, Keene dropped a 2-2 fastball down the right-field line to open the Whitman fourth inning. Ethan Thompson promptly scorched a double to the center-field wall to score Keene. Thompson later came home to tie the score at four on a ground ball to second by right fielder Daniel Berman.
But that was only the beginning of the fourth inning. By the time it was over, the Vikings had sent 14 batters to the plate, scored 10 times, and taken an insurmountable 12-4 lead. Whitman managed to score 10 times before Einstein even recorded the first out of the inning. The Vikings scored two more times in the fifth to record a 14-4 slaughter.
The 10-run outburst was enough to make a winner out of junior Reid Kellam, who struck out seven in four innings of work. A couple of defensive lapses (a fly ball that was lost above the lights) and some walks (Kellam had tremendous movement on his fastball) resulted in four Einstein runs in the second inning.
Whitman jumped out to an early lead, scoring twice in the first inning. Thompson opened the frame by ripping a single to left. He reached base all four times in the game. After a Berman sacrifice, Max Hilbert singled Thompson home. Danny Williams drove in the second run of the inning with an infield single.
Catcher Danny Lee delivered the key blow in the fourth inning, a two-run triple the opposite way. Lee drove in the final run of the game in the fifth inning, after Williams and Jesse Mates stroked line-drive singles up the middle.
Ross Olchyk came on in relief of Kellam in the fifth, facing the minimum number of batters. He was helped by a double play, Mates-Thompson-Kelly, to end the inning.
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Whitman Defeats Blake to Open Season
March 20, 2009 --
Danny Lee singled sharply to center, driving home the game-winning run in the sixth inning, and the Walt Whitman Vikings opened the season with a convincing 4-3 victory over Blake behind the five-hit pitching of Ethan Thompson.
Played with temperatures in the 40s, the game was mostly a pitcher's duel between senior Thompson and Blake's Tommy Cuningham, who was named to the pre-season all-state team by Maryland coaches. Despite the cold conditions, both pitchers exhibited strong command on the mound, effectively mixing picthes and allowing only 10 hits on the day. The scored was tied at zero through the first three frames.
Whitman jumped on top in the fourth inning, when freshman Michael Flack delivered a key, 2-run single. Senior Daniel Novak led off the inning with a single the other way, to left field. Danny Williams reached on an infield single, and the runners advanced to second and third on a throwing error. Flack drove home both runners with a single to right-center and scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Thompson, mixing a curve ball and change-up, faced only one more than the minimum number of hitters through four innings. He was helped by some strong defensive play. Catcher Danny Lee threw out two runners trying to steal second. And the left side of the infield, with Williams at third and Jesse Mates at short, played a nearly flawless game.
Blake strung together three hits in the fifth inning to tie the score. The Bengals were helped by a Viking overthrow and a controversial call on a runner at first. When the dust settled, the score was tied at 3.
But the Vikings, who had beaten Blake in the second round of the state playoffs last year, came right back in the top of the sixth inning. Williams walked and went to second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Lee, who stung his hands singling to center.
Thompson settled down in the sixth inning, retiring the side with relative ease. But the first Blake batter singled down the third-base line to open the seventh. He was on second with one out when Thompson saw him trying to steal third, stepped off the mound, and gunned him down at third. The final out was recorded on a come-backer to the mound.
Both teams recorded only five hits. But the Vikings made all their hits count for runs. Thompson struck out four and didn't walk a batter to record the victory.
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