BEL AIR, MD – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball team opened the season with a doubleheader at Maryland JUCO rival Harford Community College Tuesday afternoon. It had been 357 days since the Riverhawks faced outside competition, and much had changed. Head Coach Nick Hoffner took the helm of the program in November 2020, and the team added 10 new players to its 23-person roster. Against the Division I Fighting Owls, AACC fell 13-3, and 13-2.
Game one starter Bradley Zoellner (0-1) took the loss giving up six runs on four hits in a third of an inning. Tony Puciloski allowed two runs on a hit while striking out three in his collegiate debut of two relief innings. Tripp Templeton took the mound for one and two-thirds innings, surrendering two runs on four hits. Skylar Kaplan closed out the game allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits while fanning two in her collegiate debut.
Down 6-0 after one, AACC took advantage of a pair of walks to load the bases, seeing Cam Rees score on a wild pitch. Harford added three runs in the third before the Riverhawks put up two runs in the fourth. Daniel Stern stole second after reaching via walk, got to third as Jaden Jones bunted. Jones then stole second, and both scored on a fielding error to make it 9-3 in favor of the home team.
The Fighting Owls tacked on a run in the fourth before adding three runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the sixth. Harford starter Zane Grimes earned the win, striking out four and surrendering one run on one hit in three innings. Hunter Bell recorded the save, pitching the final three innings.
Game two saw the Riverhawks take a 1-0 lead as they converted a lead off walk to Ian Adams into a run after he stole second and found home on a pair of wild pitches. AACC managed just two baserunners over the next three innings before EJ Santana drove in the Riverhawks' final run in the fifth.
The Fighting Owls, meanwhile, added three runs on two hits in the bottom of the first, took advantage of a pair of errors in the second to score four more, and tacked on five in the third as the Riverhawks' pitchers began to fade. Harford added one additional run in the fourth on an RBI double.
AACC's battery was combined of four pitchers, seeing starter AJ Zeak (0-1) shoulder the loss giving up four hits and seven runs (two earned) in 1.2 innings worked. Dylan Dilts, Chris Paugh, and Matt Johnson combined for six more runs (five earned) on five hits while striking out five.
Anne Arundel looks ahead to its home opener on Sunday, March 7, as the Riverhawks host Delaware Tech for a noon doubleheader. No spectators are allowed at AACC or NJCAA Region XX events, however fans may follow the games with live video and live stats.