WESTMINSTER, Md. - Sophomore
Anthony Cerone hit a grand slam and totaled six RBIs to lead the McDaniel College baseball team to a 12-4 win over Washington College in the quarterfinals of the Centennial Conference Baseball Championship Thursday at Preston Field.
The win gave the Green Terror (29-12) conference tournament wins in consecutive seasons, having defeated Gettysburg in the opening round of last season's tournament. It marks the second-straight year the team has won a home playoff game at Preston Field.
In the second-ever postseason meeting between the conference rivals, the Green Terror struck first with two runs in the opening frame, scoring on an RBI-ground out from Cerone and an RBI-single from junior
Ethan Haddock that scored senior
Ben Davis.
After the Shoremen (22-19) left the bases loaded in the second, McDaniel responded with a six-run inning that made the score 8-0. Sophomore
Thomas Mezzullo drove in a two-run single to move ahead 4-0, and Cerone drilled a grand slam down the right field line to clear the bases and put the Green Terror in front by eight runs.
Washington College tacked on two runs in the third on an RBI-ground out and an RBI-single, later cutting the deficit in half on a two-run double to make the score 8-4 in the fourth. First-year
Jack Morin added an insurance run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to score junior
Quinn Dean for a 9-4 advantage.
A three-run sixth inning sealed the win for McDaniel, as Cerone added his sixth RBI of the day on a single and Haddock knocked in his third hit of the day on another RBI-single for an 11-4 lead. Quinn drove in Cerone on an RBI-single for the game's final 12-4 margin. Washington College left three runners on base over the game's final three frames as the Green Terror secured the home playoff win, 12-4.
Cerone went 2-for-5 with a team-high six RBIs and two runs scored while Haddock tallied a season-high four hits in five plate appearances with two RBIs. Mezzullo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Davis also had a two-hit day at the plate, scoring three times. Dean had three hits in five at-bats with an RBI and two runs scored while sophomore
Cameron Simon had a multi-hit day as well.
First-year
Luke Wood got the start and the win, improving his record to 5-1 with three strikeouts, four walks, three earned runs and eight hits allowed on 95 pitches. First-year
Chase Shepard earned a four-inning save, striking out one and walking two while allowing only one hit.
The Green Terror will face top-seeded Johns Hopkins in Baltimore on Saturday in the semifinals of the 2026 Centennial Conference Baseball Championship. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
