Gilman Captures MIAA A Conference Crown

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Just over two years ago to the date, Gilman walked off the field at Harford CC under the lights as runner’s up after suffering a 4-2 loss to Calvert Hall in the MIAA A Conference Championship. Disappointing for sure but many around the program quickly turned their attention to the 2020 season. The Greyhounds entered the 2020 season as the prohibitive favorites to make a return trip back to the Championship and furthermore win it with a quartet of Division I bound arms and majority of key pieces in the lineup coming back.

The 2020 campaign started off extremely well with wins over DC powerhouse St. John’s and McDonogh in their MIAA opener. But then the unthinkable happened and Covid-19 completely whipped out the remainder of the season. With many key players graduating during the pandemic, many wrote off the Greyhounds as title contenders in 2021, believing that their best opportunity had passed. 

Yes, right-hander and Wake Forest signee Peter Heubeck was returning for his senior season but fellow senior, right-handed pitcher and James Madison signee Matt Leikus was unavailable to pitch due to injury. Several questions arose about how competitive the Greyhounds would be in games Heubeck wasn’t starting on the mound while others questioned where the offense was going to come from with several high caliber arms spread across the always very competitive, long, and often daunting MIAA regular season grind.

Those questions however were answered down the stretch and again Monday on one of the grandest stages Maryland high school baseball has to offer.

Heubeck was masterful in his two playoff starts but it was Heach Coach Larry Sheets’ idea and combination of throwing a trio of arms for short two inning stints in games where he didn’t start that proved to be the difference maker. Seniors Bennett Speicher, Owen Holmgren, and sophomore Cooper Sidell stepped up in a huge way down the stretch combining to shut-out Archbishop Curley for six innings on the last day of the regular season to clinch the number two seed in the playoffs; and again combined to shut-out Mount. St. Joseph 3-0 in the semifinals. Following Heubeck’s dominant 15 strikeout - complete game performance against John Carroll, punching their ticket to the Championship, it was back to the trio to pitch in the biggest game of the season for the Greyhounds at home against regular season champion Archbishop Spalding. The Cavaliers defeated Gilman both times they met in the regular season (9-0 and 7-1) but Monday had a different feel from the get-go and it never seemed as though the Greyhounds were afraid or intimidated.

Once again, Speicher started and worked two scoreless frames stranding a runner on third in the second after getting a pop-up to right to end the threat. Gilman would go quietly at the plate through the first two innings as sophomore righty and East Carolina commit Parker Thomas looked well in control for Spalding.

Things changed quickly however in the bottom of the third and the momentum shifted to the home team as the Greyhounds plated four big runs to take a lead which they would never surrender. Back-to-back errors, a double steal, and a wild pitch is how Gilman scored their first run. Then a walk and an aggressive base-running decision to break for home after Thomas had fielded a come-backer and flipped it softly to first base for the second out of the inning plated their second run of the inning. Senior Trevor Weiner followed up with a clutch two-out double to left-center field scoring Ryan Martinez and another costly Spalding error accounted for the fourth run of the inning for Gilman.

Spalding responded in the fourth as sophomore Cody Sharman doubled to right-center scoring Kyle Garrett. But that is all the Cav’s could muster as Owen Holmgren completed his two middle innings of work allowing just that one hit and run.

Gilman added two insurance runs in the fifth as Weiner once again provided the big hit of the inning driving one out to right-center field for two RBI’s as both Martinez and Casey Bishop scored. The Cavs went fairly quiet in the fifth and sixth as sophomore righty Cooper Sidell worked two scoreless frames striking out three before turning the ball over to Heubeck to close it out in the seventh.

Nothing energized the packed crowd on hand more than seeing number 17 take the hill with just three outs left to get. It was one last chance to see their stud and highly touted pro-prospect in this year’s upcoming Major League Baseball draft. A guy that captivated an exorbitant amount of buzz causing scouts to fly in from all across the country all year long to see him every outing. On just three days rest Heubeck struck out two in the inning and induced a fly ball to Adam Hicks in right field for the last out of the game.

A very fitting and bittersweet ending to the crazy last two years many around the program experienced following the runner-up finish in 2019 and lost season as the favorites to take the title in 2020.

2021 MIAA A CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: GILMAN GREYHOUNDS