Fifth Inning Walk Off Sends Baseball to Region Championship Series

WYE MILLS, Md. – The third seed Anne Arundel Community College baseball team is headed to the NJCAA Region 20 DII Championship series after an 11-1 walk off win over fourth seed CCBC Essex in five innings Saturday afternoon at Chesapeake College.

The Riverhawks scored six runs in the fifth inning to defeat the Knights via run rule and claim the Region 20 DII East Division title. Sophomore Nicco Holland earned his first career complete-game win on the mound and also went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the game. Camden Hodges went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including the game-winner in the fifth. Rylan Palle drove in two runs on a 2-for-3 effort.

The Riverhawks will face the winner of the Region 20 DII West Division title game between Hagerstown and top overall seed Frederick in the Region 20 DII Championship series on May 16-17. The championship series will be played at the highest remaining overall seed.

AACC led, 5-1, entering the bottom of the fifth. Russell Turner drew a walk to lead off the inning. Travis Fleshman and Palle hit back-to-back doubles to make it 7-1 and chase out the Knights' first reliever.

Next, Evan Birch reached via an infield error. During the next at-bat, Palle sprinted from second to score on a wild pitch that rolled to the backstop for an 8-1 lead.

With runners on first and second, Griffin Klein singled on a bunt tucked inside the third base line and Agustin Murillo scored from second on a wild throw. Holland hit a sac fly to deep center field to make it 10-1, and Hodges dropped a double in right center to score Klein all the way from first to take the win.

Essex scored its lone run on an RBI groundout in the first inning. The Knights had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth, but Holland induced a lofty pop out to Palle to get out of the jam.

AACC tied the game at 1-1 in the second on a Birch single to left, and after a 1-2-3 top of the third that included a stunning pickoff at first, the Riverhawks extended their lead with four runs on six hits in the bottom half of the inning.

AACC started the third with four straight singles. After a fielder's choice and infield out, the Riverhawks continued with singles from Fleshman and Palle that chased out the Essex starting pitcher. The final run came across via wild pitch.

The Riverhawks tied their season high with four doubles in the game.