BALTIMORE, Md. - The Haverford College baseball team (20-21) dropped an 8-6 decision to Dickinson (23-17-1) in the Centennial Conference tournament on Saturday morning on Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. The loss ended Haverford's Centennial Conference tournament run, as Dickinson moved on to another elimination game later on Saturday afternoon.
Haverford turned to Sam Cohen to make the start, and Cohen logged a strong turn on the mound, tossing 5.2 innings and striking out seven Red Devils against just one walk. Cohen ran into his first major spell of trouble in the sixth inning, as Dickinson rallied for six runs in the frame in what ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest. Harry Genth had three hits to lead the Fords, while Zach Crampton added a pair. Zach Becker had a three-RBI day.
In the first inning, Haverford struck for an early run against Dickinson starter Matt Hamilton. Daniel Rosman punched a leadoff single up the middle and promptly stole second, helping to set the table for the middle of the Haverford order.
Jonny Flieder walked, and Jack Wallis later tapped a two-out single through the left side to plate the opening run of the contest for the Fords. Haverford stranded the bases loaded in the frame, but Cohen delivered a shutdown inning in the bottom of the first.
Haverford again loaded the bases in the second, forcing Hamilton to work through traffic as Zach Crampton started the inning with a leadoff single ahead of a walk to Rosman and an infield single from Genth. With one out, Flieder blooped a single into the right-center field gap to double the Haverford advantage to 2-0.
Cohen worked around a pair of consecutive errors in the third to strand the bases loaded, but Dickinson got on the scoreboard for the first time in the fourth frame, with Kaden Sigmon lifting a one-out homer past the short porch in right and onto University Parkway.
Genth led off the fourth with a double, and Flieder was hit by a pitch as the Fords had something working yet again as Haverford seemingly was clogging the bases in the early goings. Against new pitcher Thomas Marshman, Haverford then played a bit of small ball to push across a pair of crucial runs.
Wallis delivered a grounder that moved both runners into scoring position, and Genth scored on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Zach Becker, sliding home to evade the Dickinson throw home. Zach Landry then delivered a sacrifice bunt to score Flieder as the Fords extended the lead to 4-1.
Dickinson added its second run in the fourth inning as Christian Kim walked and Nathan Bowman singled to put runners on the corners. On a double steal attempt, Dylan Posencheg, who had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning, scampered home to plate Dickinson's second run of the contest.
Becker launched a towering two-run homer to left in the top of the sixth with one out, scoring Jonny Flieder and giving the Fords a four-run cushion at 6-2, but Dickinson rallied in the sixth to take the win.
Ryan Thompson singled to lead off the inning, and Posencheg singled with one down. With two outs in the inning, Kenny Tagliareni reached on catcher's interference to load the bases. Andrew Mazzone then knocked a double to plate two runs, and Haverford went to the bullpen for Wyatt Mattison.
Sigmon singled to center, tying the score at 6-6 with Talgiareni and Mazzone coming into score. The next hitter, Derek Smith, then launched a two-run homer to put the Red Devils ahead by a pair of runs.
Mattison held the Red Devils off for the final 2.1 innings, but Joey Sanguiolo was masterful in his three-inning appearance, as he struck out five and allowed just two base runners on a pair of hit basemen in the seventh. Sanguiolo retired the final six batters he faced for his fifth save of the season.
Haverford's 2023 season now comes to a close after the Fords made a return trip to the CC postseason for the first time since the 2019 season, the 14th overall in program history.
The future is certainly bright for the program, which graduates a strong core of senior leaders who solidified the middle order, but saw some stellar first-year performances from underclassmen who will hope to anchor the rotation and lineup next season as Haverford looks to hunt down another CC championship.