MPSSAA 4A Baseball State Championship

Northwest won its second state title in baseball, its first since 2012, by topping Howard, 8-0. The Jaguars got an excellent effort from pitcher Michael Yuille, who threw six innings and struck out eight, while scattering two hits. He also came up with two hits, which included an RBI double.

Northwest scored first when Howard's starting pitcher, Gabe Delgado, ran into some control problems in the second inning. Delgado walked the first two batters, and after a sacrifice bunt, walked a third to load the bases. Jalen Magbie-Hunter hit a ground ball which Howard couldn't turn into a double play, giving Northwest a 1-0 lead.

Northwest benefited again from Howard's pitchers, which included Delgado, Ryan Kulick and Ryan Kearney, struggling to find the strike zone in the third inning. The first three batters of the inning drew walks, then Mac Adelman, Ryan Kennington and Matthew Mulhern all came home on wild pitches to extend the Jaguars' lead to 4-0.

Howard mounted its biggest threat of the game in the fourth inning. Brendan Foster and Cameron Robinson got Howard's first hits on either side of a Brian Jakubek walk. Craig Wiley lifted a ball to right field in what looked like would be a sacrifice fly, but Kennington made a superb throw to get Foster at the plate to end the inning.

The Jaguars added to their lead in the fifth inning. Kennington opened the inning with a walk, then Yuille roped a double to bring him home. Nick Phelps followed with a double, but Northwest was unable to score. Northwest eventually tacked on another run after a pair of walks was issued, the last of which brought a run home.

Northwest brought two more runs in during the sixth inning on a dropped fly ball. Griffin Bubb threw the final inning for the Jaguars, striking out two.