Maryland: Calvert Hall Earns Bye in MIAA A Playoffs

Both teams knew going in that the loser of Thursday afternoon’s boys lacrosse game between St. Mary’s and Calvert Hall wouldn’t be eliminated from the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. But both teams also knew that the winner would earn a very valuable first-round bye.

Both teams battled as if it was a “loser go home” situation, and it wasn’t until the Saints coach’s son, John Hogan, scored with 2:39 left in overtime that St. Mary’s came away with a hard-fought 12-11 win over rival Calvert Hall, earning the first-round bye.

“It was important for us to get the win, and more than anything else I was happy for our team to be in such a competitive game and have them maintain their composure, when it would have been easy to do so,” Saints coach Matt Hogan said. “Having a bye is a big deal this time of year to get some rest and not have to play two games within 48 hours of each other.”

Calvert Hall fought back from a seven-goal deficit, tying the game on a Tony Rossi goal with just over 40 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, setting the stage for Hogan’s game-winning goal.

“I am proud of [my son] John regardless if he scores any goals, let alone a goal to win a game in overtime,” Hogan said. “I was happy for him due to the extra time he puts in to be a good lacrosse player. Endless hours on the wall in the backyard paid off for him.”

Scott Hopmann led St. Mary’s with four goals, and Nick Doub added three.

Patrick Fanshaw, recently named an Under Armour All-American, led Calvert Hall with four goals.

With virtually nothing at stake, St. Mary’s (15-1, 9-1) closed out its regular season on Saturday with a 14-4 win over Severn. The Saints finished tied for first with Gilman (13-1, 9-1) in the conference standings, but the Greyhounds received the top seed in the tournament as a result of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Gilman handed the Saints their only loss of the season, 12-11. Gilman’s only conference loss was against Boys’ Latin, 13-12.

MIAA A Conference quarterfinals set

No. 3-seed Calvert Hall (12-3, 8-2) will host St. Paul’s (13-6, 5-5) on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

No. 4-seed Boys’ Latin (14-3, 7-3) will host Loyola-Blakefield (10-6, 6-4) on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m.

The semifinals will take place on Thursday at Towson University. Gilman will play against the lowest remaining seed at 5 p.m., while St. Mary’s will face the other remaining team in the 7 p.m. game.

The championship game will be played at Towson University on Wednesday, May 20. Game time to be announced.

IAAM Girls Lacrosse Quarterfinals Schedule

All games played on Tuesday:

9 Garrison Forest at 1 McDonogh
5 Bryn Mawr at 4 St. Mary’s 

7 Maryvale Prep at 2 Notre Dame Prep
6 St. Paul’s SFG at 3 John Carroll

IAAM Girls Lacrosse: Playoff notes

No. 9-seed Garrison Forest topped No. 8-seed Roland Park Country, 12-9 in overtime, to secure the only upset in the first round of the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland girls lacrosse playoffs. Junior Liza Blue had a game-high six goals, while Meghan Mullan had 18 saves to lead the Grizzlies into the second round...Kate Cathell scored a team-high four goals to lead St. Paul’s SFG to an 18-16 victory over Archbishop Spalding. The Gators led all the way, but a stubborn and determined Cavaliers team never gave up. Spalding went on a three-goal run early in the second half and scored five of the game’s final six goals before falling just short in the end...Five players scored two goals each as No. 5-seed Bryn Mawr advanced with a 12-8 win over Severn...Morgan Matz scored a game-high eight goals, and Sophia Thomas added four goals and eight assists as Maryvale Prep won easily, 21-13, over Mount de Sales...Lyndsey Munoz recorded six saves and teammate Katie Teague added two as the Saints advanced with a 13-4 win over Mercy...No. 3-seed John Carroll advanced to the quarterfinals with a 17-9 victory over Seton Keough.

Baseball: Severna Park wins county title

Severna Park senior outfielder Tom McCarthy’s first home run proved to be the biggest hit of his life.

McCarthy, who had never hit a home run at any level of organized baseball, notched a three-run jack in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead Severna Park to a 7-5 win over North County (13-4) in the Anne Arundell County championship game.

It was McCarthy’s three-run blast — part of a five run inning — which would prove to be the difference in the game.

North County shortstop Mike Schmidt hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 7-5. But Falcons pitcher Dylan Taylor struck out Jake Thiess to close out the game and give Severna Park (16-2) its eighth county championship.

More Baseball: Loyola pitcher does it all in win over Gilman

Loyola pitcher Harry Slade allowed just two hits over four innings and helped himself with a three-run home run in the third inning in a 3-2 win over Gilman Friday afternoon.

The Dons (16-6) held the Greyhounds scoreless until the seventh inning when they managed to push across two runs. But Gilman’s late rally fell short and the Greyhounds wasted a strong pitching performance by Ryan Ripken, who pitched five strong innings, making just one mistake on his pitch to Slade.

Jon Buzby is the Maryland correspondent for MaxPreps.com.