When the glove popped, Henry Zatkowski skipped off the mound, turned to his teammates and let out a roar. The exaltation had a tinge of relief — the ace left-hander was coming up on his pitch limit, and the inning was his last.
The senior made the most of it, beating state power Sherwood with eight innings of shutout baseball to send River Hill into the Maryland 3A quarterfinals with a 2-0 win.
The 6-foot-2 Zatkowski, committed to Duke, went all eight. After his final pitch, the 103rd of his afternoon — two shy of the limit for high school starters — he gave catcher Anderson Dang a shoulder bump.
The Hawks (16-5) will host Chesapeake on Friday for a berth in the semifinals. Sherwood, coming off an unprecedented three straight 4A titles before being reclassified to 3A this year, finishes 18-3. The loss ended the Warriors’ 16-game playoff winning streak.
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“We all want to be them,” River Hill Coach Craig Estrin said. “That’s the best program in the state. Nobody’s even close.”
The moment they discovered they were set to travel to Sherwood, the Hawks knew it would be a low-scoring game. They’ve struggled bunting all year, so they used their extra two days of preparation to work on their craft, knowing it could be the difference.
That execution proved pivotal. River Hill pushed two unearned runs across in the top of the eighth, breaking the seal when a bunt was misplayed near first base and lobbed over the head of the covering second baseman.
One at-bat later, Zatkowski provided himself some cushion with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Zatkowski improved to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to an almost unfathomable 0.22. He has allowed just one earned run in 40⅓ innings. He struck out 11 Warriors, allowing just four hits, none of which left the infield. Sherwood put one ball into the outfield all afternoon.
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Zatkowski attacked hitters with his electric fastball and wipeout slider, relying on his connection with Dang to sequence Sherwood’s dangerous lineup with expertise.
“It was all this guy right here,” Zatkowski said, gesturing to his catcher. “I shook him off maybe twice the whole game. Our chemistry is insane.”
Sherwood senior Mac Crismond was equally dominant for 6⅔ innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 10. But he had to exit after reaching the 105-pitch limit despite showing few signs of fatigue and even sharpening his curveball as innings passed.
“He’s got crazy stuff,” said Zatkowski, who was 0 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. “I was lost at the plate, pretty much.”
Zatkowski was able to go the distance because of his efficiency. He entered the eighth having thrown only 85 pitches and was able to punch out the final batter with his 103rd pitch of the day — an outside slider.
“We always say we want to play our best baseball in May, and we got him,” Estrin said, pausing before eyeing Zatkowski, who held the region championship plaque in his hand. “Yeah, I’d say he’s pretty good.”
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