Maryland Wins Eastern Regional

After playing baseball for nearly five hours in the August heat to wind up a demanding tournament, the players for the Talbot, Maryland and Wyoming, Pennsylvania had just about nothing left in the tank.

However, Maryland still found enough energy .

Maryland rallied back to beat Pennsylvania, 12-7, after losing earlier in the day, and punched its ticket to the World Series by claiming the 2011 Senior league Baseball Eastern Regional championship at West Deptford's .

It will now head up to Bangor, ME to compete against the best from around the country and the world.

“It’s unreal,” said Taylor Slaughenhoupt, who had a two-run homer in the second game. “We have been through a lot of stuff over the years, and just to win states and now to win this is just amazing.”

Pennsylvania had been on a remarkable run of five wins in four days, but didn't have enough to become just the third team in 21 years to win the title after coming up through the loser’s bracket.

Pennsylvania staved off elimination earlier in the day, winning 9-5 to force a winner-take-all contest. It then stormed out to a 6-3 lead after two innings, but watched as Maryland battled back with two runs in the third and four in the fourth to take the lead for good.

“We had to stay behind our team, no matter what,” said Maryland’s Dustin Jones. “When times got hard, we had to step it up.”

Jones delivered the go-ahead two-run single in the fourth that gave Maryland a 7-6 lead. After Tayvon Blake singled and Slaughenhoupt was intentionally walked, Justin Miles came through with a two-run single of his own to give Maryland some insurance.

Pennsylvania came back with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Maryland added a run in the fifth and two in the seventh to put the game away.

And when the final out of the tournament was recorded, the players were understandably bushed.

“I’m drained,” said Slaughenhoupt, shaking his head, but cracking a smile. “I’m done. I have nothing left.”

It looked as though Maryland would not need a second game to advance. It jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two and a half innings of the opening game.

However, like it had done throughout the tournament, Pennsylvania refused to give in. The state to our west battled back with a six-run bottom-of-the-third to build a lead it would not relinquish.

Maryland’s defense was sloppy early in the second game, as five errors led to a trio of unearned runs. However, the offense had more than enough to compensate, delivering 14 hits, and Dillon Rabbitt provided 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief to earn the win.

Maryland will open Senior League World Series play on Monday against Montreal, Quebec, Canada at Mansfield Stadium at 1 p.m.

It is a moment Slaughenhoupt said has been a long time coming.

“We’re hyped,” Slaughenhoupt said. “We're ready to make some noise.”