Potomac beats Hylton to earn Cardinal baseball crown

Winners of six straight, the Potomac Panthers clinched the Cardinal District baseball regular sea-son title with a victory in their 2009 season finale over Hylton Friday evening.

First baseman Matt Jack had an RBI triple and Edgar Quinones went 2 for 3 with an RBI as the Panthers hung on to win 4-3 in Dumfries and clinched the district's automatic Northwest Region berth.

Hylton beat Woodbridge 9-8 Thursday, and Potomac took a half-game lead in the district race after defeating Forest Park the same night.

Several Vikings players made their way to Jerry Gardziel Field to root for the Bulldogs, hoping for a first place tie and a one-game playoff for the district Saturday. Instead, the Panthers (15-5, 9-1 district) sent them home disappointed and in need of at least an appearance in the district tour-nament title game for a shot at a regional bid.

"We sat down and talked to the kids," Potomac coach Mike Covington said. "For us, about two weeks ago we told the kids every game is a playoff game from here on out. If we [lost], we'd be handing the championship to Woodbridge. We wanted to make them work for it."

Tyler Vieira, who will attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy next fall, relieved Potomac starter Bobby Beimler in the fourth inning with two on and no outs, escaping with Hylton scoring just one run. Vieira allowed two runs over four innings, striking out seven. He also singled to lead off the sixth, his only at-bat of the game.

"I just wanted to let them hit it, really," Vieira said. "I was striking guys out, but it all comes from confidence. If you get the strikeouts it's great, but ground balls work just as well."

"The savior for us is 33 [Vieira]," Covington said. "He came in and got a save [Thursday], he comes in and gets the win today. If we've played 20 games, he's probably pitched in 18 of them."

Beimler left after facing three hitters in the fourth, giving up just two hits. Walks got the righty in trouble though; he issued four but allowed only one run.

Third baseman Jonathan Amos added a double as he went 2 for 3.

Down 4-0 in the fourth, Hylton had singles from two of the first three hitters in the inning. Joey LoMonaco brought home the Bulldogs' first run of the day on a fielder's choice with one out, but Vieira struck out the next two to end the threat.

Justin Bhatti and Chris Holmes also drove in runs, plating Robert Kelley and Chris Fisher, respec-tively, in the fifth.