CCBC Essex Eliminates CCBC Catonsville to Stay Alive in Region 20 Tournament

Wye Mills, MD — With their season on the line, CCBC Essex delivered a complete performance on Saturday morning at Chesapeake College, defeating CCBC Catonsville 8-3 to stay alive in the Region 20 Tournament.

The Knights have now defeated Catonsville in back-to-back matchups and advance to face the loser of the Chesapeake vs. Anne Arundel semifinal. That game will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of that contest.

Sophomore Eduardo Zayas (Cidra, PR / Bilingual Education School at Cidra) sparked the offense early with an RBI double in the first inning. Freshman Connor Bailey (Salisbury, MD / Parkside) followed with an RBI single to give the Knights a quick 2-0 lead.

In the second, Sophomore Brody Carroll (Church Hill, MD / Queen Anne's) executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to bring in another run, and Sophomore Jimmy Perez (Queens, NY / HS for Arts and Business) added an RBI single to center to push the lead to 4-0.

Freshman Casey Parsons (Salisbury, MD / Parkside) earned the win with a gritty performance, going 6.1 innings while allowing four hits and two runs, striking out five and walking six. Sophomore Logan Bennett (Forest Hills, NY / Forest Hills) came on in relief to close out the game.

The Knights' offense racked up 13 hits. Perez, Zayas, Bailey, William Hartman (Reisterstown, MD / Franklin), and Ethan Holland (Salisbury, MD / Parkside) each collected two hits. Perez and Zayas each drove in two runs and combined to draw four of the team's seven walks. Perez also swiped two bases, as the Knights tallied four steals overall.

Catonsville was led by Kelly, who had two RBIs. Palumbo and Grajales each notched two hits.

CCBC Essex improves to 29-26 and will play again Saturday afternoon with a trip to the Region 20 Championship Game on the line.