And when the 7-4 win was secure, clinching a third straight title for Sherwood, Scott wrangled his way out of the bottom of the dog pile to embrace every last coach and teammate he could find at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf.
“To win three straight with my best friends,” Scott said, before pausing, “there’s not much more in the world that you could want more than that.”
All season, rival coaches touted Sherwood (23-3) as the closest thing to an inevitability that high school baseball allowed. But Coach Sean Davis knew the Warriors also were subject to the whims of baseball, a sport known for spoiling the best teams’ best-laid plans. And no team had ever won three straight Maryland 4A state titles.
“We have wonderfully talented players, wonderful coaches, and there’s just so much buy-in,” Davis said. “Those are the things that help you win championships. You can get a bad bounce here or there, but you can always dig yourself out of a hole.”
In Urbana (21-3), the Warriors faced a foe that hadn’t lost since March. But the Hawks were also a familiar opponent, one that the Warriors had blown out in the season opener and eliminated in the 2019, 2021 and 2022 postseasons.
Though each of their titles has looked different — this year’s included capitalizing on six Urbana errors — the game featured familiar heroes and rising stars.
Scott provided a 1-0 lead in the first with his homer and singled for a 2-1 lead that became 3-1 before the end of the second. Amari Allen, the reigning All-Met Player of the Year, legged out two infield singles on bobbled balls. Sophomore Jacob Bagania, who batted ninth, scored three runs, including swiping third and home on an errant pickoff attempt in the fifth to provide a 5-1 lead. Junior right-hander Mac Crismond, who dazzled with a one-hitter in the team’s 1-0 state quarterfinal win and blanked Severna Park in the state final last season, shimmered yet again.
“School’s over, that was my last game of high school baseball, and I don’t even think [the three-peat] has set in yet,” senior infielder Ryan Bouma said. “But I know this is the most talented team we’ve had, and we didn’t disappoint.”