Boyer, Roaders make their move quickly, top Liberty to reach 1A baseball semifinals

BRUNSWICK — When Brunswick’s Koltin Boyer rounded third base in the first inning after moving up on a wild pitch, he didn’t exactly see what coach Roger Dawson signaled to him.

What Boyer did see was the Liberty pitcher and catcher confused about where the ball rested in the grass, and Boyer knew he could tack on an extra 90 feet to his sprint. Dawson, who serves as the third base coach, saw the same thing and sent him.

Boyer slid home with the game’s first run, his two-base wild pitch setting an aggressive tone on the basepaths that the third-seeded Railroaders kept up throughout Friday’s 5-2 home win over the sixth-seeded Lions in the Class 1A baseball quarterfinals. Brunswick advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since its 2016 championship run, where it will face No. 2 seed Colonel Richardson on Tuesday at a neutral site to be announced.

“I was looking at the ball, and I see them both lost,” Boyer said. “I figured, might as well put a run on the board.”

It’s not the first time this season the Roaders have manufactured runs with their speed, but they felt they had a particular advantage to exploit against Liberty (16-5).

Dawson saw the Lions play Walkersville two weeks ago, and that performance made him believe his squad could run wild. Aside from a fourth-inning blunder, Brunswick did just that.

“When you can put pressure on a team with speed, you get them back on their heels, and they made a couple mistakes,” Dawson said.

Nathan Borawski forced one of those in the fifth inning. He stole second base, and Liberty’s pitcher bounced the ball in the dirt, allowing Colin Pearre to score on another wild pitch as Borawski cruised into third.

Boyer also swiped two bags, including one to set up his 180-foot dash, and motored home on a shallow fourth-inning single to right field by Ty Kaunas.

“I’m just trying to read the pitch out of the hand, and I’m watching the pitcher the whole time, watching his feet, the way he moves and just where the ball goes,” Boyer said.

He reached base all four times he was at the plate, often legging out weaker contact and setting the Roaders in motion.

Boyer, who Dawson said runs a 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds, scored three runs.

“You can’t teach speed,” Dawson said. “When you got dudes in your lineup that can run like that, makes it dangerous.”

That creates runs, which in turn backs up the pitching staff.

Brunswick (20-2-1) received another gritty effort from senior right-hander Tyler Lowery on the mound, who rarely threw a clean frame but kept putting up zeros on the scoreboard. He tossed 5 1-3 innings to pick up the win, allowing one earned run and striking out three while scattering four hits.

“He’s effectively wild,” Dawson said. “It’s kind of hard to square up on him, because he’s up and he’s down, and then he’s back in the zone.”

For Lowery’s part, he’s gotten used to pitching in and out of trouble this season.

Like every pitcher, he would rather throw a three-up, three-down inning each time. But he trusts the players behind him to get him out of a jam if he can’t blow his mid-upper 80s fastball by hitters.

“At points, I try to throw it right down the middle, let them hit it, and my defense will do all the work,” Lowery said. “But if [a hit] happens, start over.”

And when he sees players like Boyer turn loose on the basepaths, taking two bases on a wild pitch, it gives him a boost.

“It makes me want to not let up any runs,” Lowery said.

NOTES: Pearre reached base all four times and had an RBI single for Brunswick. Kaunas had two hits and earned the save, inducing a flyout to Boyer to strand the bases loaded and end the game. Borawski drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning and tossed 1 1-3 innings of relief. Liberty’s Logan Garey had two hits, while Carter Shanks and Rylan Palle each had an RBI.