CCBC Dundalk Rallies Past Baseball

ARNOLD, MD – The Anne Arundel Community College baseball team rallied to take the lead in the third inning, but fell to visiting CCBC Dundalk, 14-7, Thursday afternoon. Bradley O'Neal led the Riverhawks with a pair of doubles and two RBI to go with a stolen base in a 3-for-4 effort at the plate.

The Lions (7-20, 5-12) built a 3-0 lead in the first on a Charles Lebron two-run home run, and a wild pitch score.

Blake Rebstock got one back for the Riverhawks (6-21, 4-13) in the bottom of the inning, driving in Noah Rafsky, who singled to lead off before stealing second.

Rebstock, who started the game on the mound for AACC, retired the next six Lions batters setting up the Riverhawks for a comeback bid in the third.

Rafsky again led off with a single, and after an Andrew Revels double and a Rebstock walk, O'Neal hit his first double of the day to score a pair. Rebstock later made a heads up play scoring from third on a fourth ball wild pitch to give the Riverhawks a 4-3 lead.

A double steal and a passed ball plated two for the Lions in the fourth, giving them the lead they would never relinquish. They added three in the fifth, scoring one on an Andy Duarte single before plating the next on a balk with runners on the corners. Duarte later came around to score on an Ethan Alioto double.

Thomas McNamara drove in O'Neal with a well-placed two-out single through the right side in the bottom of the fifth, but the rally was short lived.

The Lions added two runs on three hits in the sixth before AACC reliever Matthew Conlon came on with runners on second and third to get the final out.

Hayden Buhaj struck out the side in the eighth to spark some life in the Riverhawks. Rebstock drove in Rafsky from second with a single through the right side, followed by O'Neal singling to left allowing Rebstock to take third and then seeing a misplay in the outfield, continue home.

Duarte drew a leadoff walk in the ninth before advancing to second on a sac bunt and coming across on an Ivan Martinez single. Martinez stole both second and third before coming across the plate on a third strike wild pitch. A Travis Buckmon RBI single capped the scoring for the Lions and reliever Chance Gensler closed out the game with a 1-2-3 inning.

Gensler earned the win with eight strikeouts over the final five innings. He scattered six hits and walked two. CCBC Dundalk starter Joe Rubalcaba struck out six and allowed six hits in four innings.

Rebstock shouldered the loss for AACC. He struck out six and allowed seven hits and eight runs over 4.2 innings.

AACC hosts Allegany Saturday at noon for a NJCAA Region XX doubleheader.