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It was a picturesque afternoon at the ballpark Friday as undefeated and No. 1 ranked Colonel Richardson hosted Mardela for the 1A East Region Title. This was the third meeting between the two schools with the Colonels having won both previous meetings; 4-3 in the regular season and most recently 1-0 in the Bayside Conference Championship two weeks ago. 

With a large crowd on hand the fans were treated to another close, well-played one-run ballgame. Colonel Richardson starting pitcher Jamison Covey (Harford CC) set the tone early and dominated the Warriors lineup through the first five innings allowing just two hits while pitching to just one batter over the minimum during that span.

Scoring chances were hard to come by as Mardela's Dylan Smith (Salisbury) was also very good on the mound for the Warriors. Smith went four innings before giving way to the bullpen allowing just one run that came in the third.

Colonel Richardson's Mason Lambert singled to open that third frame and stole second with two outs giving the Colonels their first runner in scoring position. Senior Remy Mangum (Chesapeake College) then cashed in Lambert with a single back up the middle for the games first run.

The Colonels added a second run in the fifth as Lambert walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nathan Brown. Second basemen Tyler Stanley then singled to right field bringing home Lambert thus doubling their lead. Walks to Mangum and Ty Scott (Chesapeake College) ensued to load the bases but Nathan Harper limited to damage to one by getting Nathan Roth to pop out to first base to end the threat. 

Covey was cruising and got two quick outs in the sixth before Mardela turned the lineup over for the third time in the game. Freshman Jaden Shelton drew a five-pitch walk and Smith doubled on a ball smoked on a line to the right-center field gap to cut the lead in half. Fellow Salisbury commit Ryan Teaman followed with a line drive single back up the middle scoring Smith to tie the game at two. Covey would get Troy Turner (UMES) to pop out to first to end the inning but the damage was done and the game was heading for a fantastic finish. 

Colonel Richardson would threaten in the sixth with back-to-back walks to lead it off but the rally quickly stalled as Cade Nutter got Lambert to strikeout and induced an inning ending double play. Vice-versa, Mardela got the first two batters on in the top of the seventh before Covey struck out two and got Shelton to ground out back to him. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Mangum reached on an error at third base with one out and Jackie Zebron and Scott both singled to load the bases for the Colonels hottest hitter on the day, in Roth. Roth battled at the plate before singling back up the middle for his third hit on the day plating Mangum for the walk-off 3-2 win.

With the win, Colonel Richardson is headed back to the State Semifinals for the first time since 2015 where they will face defending 1A State Champion Boonsboro on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 PM at McCurdy Field in Frederick, MD.