This article was taken from The Capital. Congratulations to Arundel High School for claiming the title at the third annual Baseball Factory Tournament of Champions High School Invitational.

The fourth-ranked Arundel baseball team had a simple task to complete in order to win its first Baseball Factory High School Invitational Championship. The Wildcats just had to defeat three teams in 24 hours, teams with a combined 20 state championships among them, without emptying their pitching arsenal with a packed week of county action ahead.

Senior transfer Brian McCormick led the way with two hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs to lead the Wildcats past Gloucester Catholic (N.J.), 11-3.

Arundel was led defensively by a strong combined pitching performance from juniors Chris Wuthrich and Jeremy Moreland.

Joe Zimmerman added two hits and scored three runs while Brad Pendock chipped in with three RBIs. Brian Hobbs drove in two runs despite a tough night at the plate and Skylar Delph added one RBI.

“These are some of the best teams in the region and it is a difficult tournament overall,” Arundel coach Bernie Walter said. “To win it while having our ace throw a total of 21 pitches will definitely give us some confidence.”

Arundel took a 4-1 lead in the third inning on the strength of a two-run home run by McCormick, his second of the season. The Riverdale Baptist transfer, headed to St. Petersburg Junior College in Clearwater, Fla., was named the tournament’s most valuable player for both his efforts at the plate as well as picking up a win on the mound against Shenendehowa (N.Y.) Friday night.

“We were not surprised with how well we did here,” McCormick said. “These teams are good, but we are a good team as well. We are just playing real well, our hitting is coming along and we are doing a good job in the field.”

Wuthrich struggled a bit in the fourth, walking one Ram batter and hitting another. Those two free passes, along with a single and an error, allowed Gloucester Catholic to score two runs and trim the deficit to one. Wuthrich battled out of that situation, but two walks to the first three Ram hitters in the fifth ended his night on the mound. He struck out three and allowed two earned runs to pick up his first win of the season.

Moreland came on in relief of Wuthrich for his first appearance of the season. He promptly retired eight of the nine hitters he faced, allowing just a sixth inning leadoff single.

“That was Jeremy’s first appearance this season and we may see more of him with that type of effort,” Walter said.

After scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth, the Wildcats busted out in the seventh. Arundel scored five runs on just three singles and a walk as aggressive baserunning and shoddy fielding by Gloucester opened the floodgates.

“I like the way we are playing, much better than we were at the time of the loss to Severna Park,” Walter said. “I am excited to see what we can do when we start hitting the ball better.”

Old Mill won the consolation of the tournament, beating Steinert (N.J.), 12-5. Alex Buchholz pitched a complete-game seven-hitter.



Arundel (8-1) 013 011 5 11 6 1 Gloucester 010 200 0 3 5 4 WP: Wuthrich (1-0) . LP: Dronson . 2B: AR – Zimmerman . GC – Randolph . 3B: GC – D’Alessandro . HR: AR – McCormick . RBI: AR – McCormick 4, Pendock 3, Hobbs 2, Delph . GC – Dammann 2, Mergliano .