State playoffs heating up; Delgado wins second ‘Prep Ballplayer’ award

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) regional baseball finals are set.

From today until Monday, 32 teams take the diamond — weather permitting — for a chance to move onto the state semifinals in their respective classes.

As of early Friday afternoon, a dozen of those schools resides in our coverage area — Baltimore City and its surrounding counties. That number could jump to 13 if Baltimore Polytech Institute earns the win this evening against Oxon Hill.

Here’s a breakdown of the teams within our coverage area who are competing for a regional title:

Class 4A could see two regional champions from suburban Baltimore. Howard faces Urbana this afternoon in the north region while Severna Park meets Leonardtown on Saturday in the east.

Area teams could grab every regional title spot in Class 3A. Towson and Bel Air match up Saturday in the north region — the winner faces Manchester Valley (also in our coverage area) or Thomas Johnson, which play this afternoon in the west, in the state semifinals.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Huntington awaits either Oxon Hill or Poly in the south. But like the north region, we’ve got two area teams battling for the east regional title: Reservoir and Chesapeake (AA), also slated for today.

The north region champion within Class 2A will be crowned Monday when Hereford and Gwynn Park face off. The west regional title is between Century or Walkersville, which play today. The winner takes on the north champion in the state semifinals. Marriotts Ridge, in the south, could earn a regional title with a victory over La Plata this afternoon.

The Class 1A north regional championship game is between Sparrows Point and Frederick Douglass. The winner will be the lone area team in this class advancing to the state semifinals.

Moving onto the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA).

It took two days, but a champion was finally crowned in the ‘C’ Conference.

The title game between Indian Creek and Concordia Prep was halted in the eighth inning Monday due to rain. The two teams resumed play Tuesday and it didn’t take long. In the top of the eighth, a two-out double and an RBI single gave Indian Creek the lead and the eventual championship victory.

Archbishop Curley awaits either Loyola or Gilman in the ‘A’ Conference finals set for Sunday at Harford Community College. Curley’s opponent should be determined this afternoon (weather permitting). Because this is a double-elimination tournament, if the Friars lose Sunday, the teams would face off Monday.

This postseason, Curley beat Loyola, 12-2, in five innings and earned a one-run victory over Gilman.

In the ‘B’ Conference tournament, Boys’ Latin — who is looking for its third-straight title — will play the winner of Glenelg Country and Gerstell in the finals. Like the ‘A’ Conference, same rules apply regarding double-elimination.

Boys’ Latin beat Glenelg County, 9-8, just two days ago in the tournament. The Lakers have yet to face Gerstell in postseason play.

Delgado wins second ‘Prep Ballplayer’ award

Gabe Delgado’s performance on the mound in the Class 4A North playoffs was good enough for his second “Prep Ballplayer of the Week” award this month.

In the sectional round against Catonsville, the junior right-hander struck out 11 batters in a complete-game performance. He allowed one run on three hits in Howard’s 4-1 win.

Delgado used that outing to tally just over 20,100 votes of the more than 36,000 cast – a tremendous turnout.

Archbishop Spalding’s Josh Moylan placed second with a little over 16,000 votes. The two battled for the top spot all week.

On Monday, we’ll have a new group of three candidates. As always, voting will run until late Thursday night with the results announced Friday.