Published: May 15, 2008 10:36 am         

Mountain Ridge ousts Northern, 3-2

ACCIDENT - Tyler Stevens outdueled Matt Sisler as Mountain Ridge, the only team to defeat Northern during the regular season, repeated the feat in the Maryland 1A West Region quarterfinals with a 3-2 win Wednesday afternoon.

The ninth-seeded Miners improve to 10-7 and will host 12th-seeded Smithsburg (8-12) today, 4 p.m., at Frostburg State University. The Leopards beat Williamsport 7-5 to advance to today's semifinal.

Northern, the defending region champion and state runner-up, finished the season 17-2.

Sisler walked only one batter, but it proved costly. Tied 2-2, Mountain Ridge No. 9 hitter Josh Bittner walked to lead off the sixth inning, advanced to second after the ball went out of play, and then got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sean Fazenbaker.

Bittner would score when Jeremy Shingler singled to left field on a two-strike pitch for the eventual winning run.

The Miners scored first and took a 2-0 lead when Cody Hovatter reached on an error with one out in the second inning and scored when Logan Harden blasted a two-run home run.

Northern answered quickly and tied it with two runs in the home half of the inning.

Patrick Brady drew a one-out walk and wound up on third after an infield single by Ben Diehl and a passed ball. After a walk loaded the bases, Dan Warnick delivered one of his two singles down the third base line to tie the game.

Sisler, who finished his career with a pitching record of 25-4 with two saves, struck out nine, allowed three hits and two earned runs. He also had three of his team's six hits, all singles.

Stevens finished with five strikeouts, one hit batter and two walks.

"We had a great year," said Northern's Phil Carr. "Seventeen-and-two is nothing to shake your head at, but we are disappointed that were weren't able to get to the finals again this year. We knew Mountain Ridge was going to be tough, and they played a great game.

Miner's coach Tim Stevens said, "It was a great win and a great game. We had a brilliant pitching duel between Stevens and Sisler, and you couldn't ask for much more in a baseball game."