South Hagerstown and Urbana are two programs that share similar talents on the baseball field.
Both teams know how to hit the ball, both possess the pitching talent to go deep into games, and both squads know how to compete under the bright lights. The Rebels and Hawks also share something else: Postseason dreams.
Unfortunately, only one of these teams will get to keep their playoff hopes alive after they meet in Saturday afternoon’s MPSSAA Class 4A West Region I Semifinals. We’ve selected this high-stakes contest between the No. 1 Hawks and No. 4 Rebels as our Game of the Week.
Get your popcorn ready.
In the weeks and months to come throughout the high school sports season, we plan on spotlighting multiple teams and sports with our Game of the Week. Any big upcoming contests we should know about? Send suggestions to Andy Sandrik via email at [email protected].
MPSSAA Class 4A West Region I Semifinals
No. 4 South Hagerstown vs. No. 1 Urbana
First pitch: Saturday, 2 p.m., at Urbana
Records: South Hagerstown enters with a 9-10 record, while Urbana checks in at 16-5.
Last game: The Hawks enjoyed a bye in the quarterfinals, while the Rebels slipped past No. 5 Thomas Johnson by a 6-4 score.
Last meeting: South Hagerstown and Urbana have already met twice this season, with two very different results. The Hawks ran away for an 18-0 win in the first meeting, before the Rebels returned the favor later in the season with a 12-4 victory of their own.
What’s at stake: The winner moves on to play for a region championship, while the season is over for the loser.
Meet the Rebels: No matter what happens in this playoff game the season can already be considered a success for coach Keith Hutzell’s squad, which not only improved upon a six-win campaign from 2025, but also added a postseason win to its resume … The Rebels rely on two table-setters, Braydon Ocasio and Derek Kline, to set the offense up for success … Ocasio leads South Hagerstown in batting average (.441) and stolen bases (21), while also posting 13 RBI … Kline, who is batting .397, leads the Rebels in runs (23), while also recording 14 RBI and 13 stolen bases … When Ocasio and Kline get on base, odds are they will end up at home plate thanks to the bats of Ethan Shephard (.373) and Luke Leisinger (.364), two players who have combined to drive in 41 runs … Other regulars in the South Hagerstown lineup include Ryan Ragland (.407, 16 runs, 10 stolen bases), Shawn Higgins (.350, 4 doubles, 16 runs, 11 RBI), Logan Hammond (.297, 2 doubles), Tyson Mangold (.241), and Grant Louchery (.222, 10 runs, 11 RBI) … Higgins, South’s pitching leader in innings (40), ERA (2.10), and strikeouts (46), will be unavailable for mound duties after pitching six innings on Thursday … If his arm is fresh, the Rebels could put the ball in the hands of Mangold (4 wins, 4.76 ERA, 28 strikeouts), who threw for four innings on Monday and another inning on Thursday … Louchery (3.00 ERA, 12 strikeouts) and Ocasio (5.78 ERA, 20 strikeouts) both have seen their fair share of innings this season and should be available to pitch, and the same can be said for Hunter Benson (2.63 ERA) and RJ Liriano (7 strikeouts).
Meet the Hawks: Coach Mike Frownfelter’s Urbana squad enters the postseason on a bit of a heater, with five wins over its last six games. That loss, of course, came to South Hagerstown on April 28 … It’s hard to identify a batter in the Hawks lineup that doesn’t stand out, as the squad boasts eight regulars who are batting over .320 … Leading the pack is Kayden Lipscomb, who can get the job done with power (15 extra-base hits) and speed (18 stolen bases). Lipscomb leads Urbana in runs scored (36) and ranks close to the top of his team in RBI (23) … Billy Swaney, batting .329, leads the Hawks in triples (5) and RBI (31), while also adding 21 runs … Perhaps the best eye on the team belongs to Dylan Dotta, who leads the Hawks with a .489 batting average, while adding 25 runs, 12 RBI, and 10 stolen bases … DJ Staub Jr. (.450, 17 RBI) and Jake Allen (.441, 10 extra-base hits, 22 runs, 18 RBI, 12 stolen bases) bring big bats to the table, as does Aiden Welch (.424, 23 runs, 20 RBI, 16 stolen bases), Ryan Yagesh (.377, 19 runs), and Aidan Katz (.362, 18 runs) … Urbana has a pitching staff built for a deep postseason run … Evan Zarroli (4-3, 2.10 ERA) and Jaxson Howington (3-1, 3.13 ERA), two pitchers who have combined for 60 strikeouts, have been the go-to guys at the top of the rotation, while Landon Lee (1-0, 2.67 ERA) and Kiegan Rupinta (3-0, 4.67 ERA) have also been superb. Rupinta has struck out 27 batters over 15 innings of work … Cam Forsythe (2-0, 3.77 ERA) and Yagesh (2-1, 3.97 ERA) round out the rotation, while Luke Wood (4.00 ERA), Evan Geisbert (1.50 ERA), Alex Nalda (3.50 ERA), and Anthony Poska (2.33 ERA) all have demonstrated the ability to get outs in limited mound time … Urbana last played on Tuesday, with the most heavily-used pitcher being Yagesh (2.2 innings), so the Hawks enter this game with a full stable of arms.
Sandrik’s pick: Hawks by 2.
