LANCASTER – It's quite an accomplishment, assembling a set of baseball players who are accustomed to playing against each other and winning a regional tournament in the span of 10 days.
Then again, Harrisburg's Senior RBI program has become pretty efficient under those guidelines.
Cumberland Valley product Kyle McClintock delivered six tactical innings and the combination of Deon Stafford and Ricky Bettinger added first-inning RBIs as Harrisburg outlasted Prince George's County 3-1 Sunday in the Mid-Atlantic Regional final.
Harrisburg's third consecutive championship wasn't official until reliever Anthony Atticks of Susquehanna Twp. worked out of a jam with back-to-back strikeouts in the seventh, sending skipper Rob Martin's crew to the RBI World Series showcase in Minnesota.
Harrisburg will travel to Minneapolis for the eight-team tournament Aug. 3-8.
“They are all like brothers now,” said Bettinger, who plated Stafford with Harrisburg's third run in the opening frame at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
“I love everyone on the team and we have chemistry even though we didn't know everyone really well.”
That chemistry showed early against 6-7 PGC righty Ryan Selmer, A Riverdale Baptist (Md.) grad and Maryland recruit. Harrisburg's on-field general, lead-off man Kyle Fackler, took care of the first run, stroking a double down the line in left, then posting on a pair of Selmer wild pitches.
Following Justin Lambert's walk and Dakota Pentz sacrifice, Stafford cracked a RBI triple. Seconds later, Bettinger's single made it 3-0, a seemingly safe lead considering McClintock had the ball.
VIDEO: Harrisburg coach Rob Martin talks weekend sweep
PHOTO GALLERY: Sam Getty chronicles victory over Prince George's County
McClintock, a freshman during Shippensburg University's Division II World Series appearance in March, worked fast and effective for the host side. The southpaw allowed a pair of hits in the second, and one more in the third, but nothing else.
PGC's lone run in the fifth was unearned as the lefty fanned four.
“Today, the pitching by Kyle McClintock was stellar. We brought Anthony in because we already pitched Kyle five or six innings on Friday, just a day ago,” said Martin.
“Anthony got himself into a tough jam there, but he did what good pitchers do, work himself out of the jam.”
Oh, yes, the seventh-inning jam.
Atticks, wanting the ball, waltzed to the mound with a 3-1 cushion but walked Bennett Garner and Jack Cheney to open the frame. To further complicate matters, a perfect sacrifice bunt by PGC catcher Walter Arrindell-Jones put two runners in position with one away.
“I attacked lightly early. With everyone yelling you knew the pressure was on,” Atticks said. “Once they got on base, I tried to get them to second and third so I could pitch from the wind-up. I feel more accurate from the wind-up. That's what happened.”
Welcoming the task, Atticks got Leo Donovan and PGC lead-off hitter Andrew Keith on strikes, each capped with his go-to curve ball.
“The curve has been on the whole week,” said Atticks.
Selmer scattered just five hits over six innings, but the hard-throwing right-hander also walked four. He recorded a single strikeout against the regional champs.
“We knew coming in here today we had quite a challenge. From my understanding, [Selmer] is a national talent in the high school ranks. Our guys stepped up to the challenge and came together to go 5-0 for the tournament. We've got some time to rest but these boys are looking forward to the Twin Cities, that's for sure.”
Epler on Twitter: @threejacker