YORK — York High clearly showed why it’s the top-ranked team in Class B South baseball Thursday with a 7-1 quarterfinal win against No. 8 Yarmouth.

With strong pitching and defense to go along with hitting through the lineup, the Wildcats (15-2) have it all.

J. Henry Bock went the distance on the mound, allowing four hits in an economical 74-pitch outing. His defense shined, and the offense thumped liners all day, highlighted by Jake Sullivan’s three-run homer in the third inning.

“I always know that we’re going to turn it up in the third inning by the latest,” Bock said.

York will host No. 4 Mountain Valley (14-3) on Saturday – the third straight season the teams have met in the playoffs. York won in the 2017 quarterfinals and Mountain Valley won last year in the quarterfinals.

York’s defensive effort was highlighted by Riley Johnston’s diving catch on a sinking liner ending the fourth with a runner at second base, and by junior shortstop Riley Linn’s plays in the sixth.

Yarmouth (9-9) had a runner on first with nobody out when Linn went to his knees to make a backhand snag of Jack McGrath’s hard grounder and got the force at second. On the next play, Linn ranged up the middle for another grounder and fired a sidearm throw on the run to first.

“We actually thought we had a chance at 5-1,” Yarmouth Coach Marc Halstead said. “Then Riley Linn makes plays at short. That play he made going to his backhand with no outs, that was ballgame.”

York’s offense is its biggest weapon. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 152-42, scoring at least six runs in 15 games.

York broke a 1-1 tie with four runs in the third. Linn led off with a walk, and with one out, Shane Pidgeon and Dawson Gundlah hit back-to-back doubles off the wall in center. Pidgeon wasn’t able to score on Gundlah’s double, but Sullivan cleared the bases with a home run, his first of the season to go with nine doubles.

“As soon as we get two people on, we expect something to start,” Sullivan said. “I think pretty much one through nine (in the order), everyone hits the ball very well. We just expect to hit and hit all day.”

Sullivan had tapped weakly to the mound to end a first-inning threat.

“Jake’s capable of (hitting a home run), but (sometimes) he tries to do it. He tried to do it in the first inning,” said York Coach Nick Hanlon. “It’s that every-inning conversation, ‘Just swing for a line drive.’ And that’s exactly what he did (in the third), so it was great to see that result.”

York added two more runs in the sixth inning. Hayden Henriksen led off with a double and scored on a groundout. The final run was unearned.

 

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