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The defending champion Hagerstown Braves will enter the South Penn Baseball League playoffs as the top seed.
The Braves are 27-3 overall and 25-2 in league play this summer, finishing the regular season two games in front of the No. 2 Littlestown Dodgers and five games ahead of the No. 3 Cashtown Pirates.
The Braves will host Game 1 of a best-of-3 quarterfinal series at North Hagerstown High School against an opponent to be determined on Thursday at 6 p.m. Game 2 will be on the road Saturday at 1 p.m., and Game 3 (if necessary) will be played at North on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Since the start of the 2022 season, the Braves are 104-9-1. Last year, they followed up the South Penn League championship with their first Maryland Semi-Pro championship in 23 years.
The Braves' top hitters this season (with statistics through the first 26 games) are:
- Jarrett Biesecker -- .522 (48-for-92), nine doubles, 22 RBIs, 28 runs, 10 walks
- Kameron Jackson -- .441 (30-for-68), nine doubles, three homers, 21 RBIs, 23 runs, 11 walks
- Hunter White -- .432 (35-for-81), 13 doubles, four homers, 28 RBIs, 21 runs, 11 walks
- Adam Mathias -- .383 (31-for-81), seven doubles, one triple, six homers, 27 RBIs, 30 runs, 24 walks
- Logan Helser -- .382 (26-for-68), nine doubles, four homers, 22 RBIs, 23 runs, 14 walks
- Riley Jackson -- .348 (23-for-66), four doubles, one triple, one homer, 10 RBIs, 17 runs, 10 walks
- Chanse Phillips -- .348 (16-for-46), three doubles, one triple, 14 RBIs
- Caleb Newcomer -- .338 (24-for-71), four doubles, one triple, four homers, 16 RBIs, 16 runs
The Braves' top pitchers this season are:
- Wyatt Freeman -- 4-0, 1.29 ERA, 38 innings, 23 hits and 15 walks allowed, 49 strikeouts
- Steven Ricketts -- 6-0, three saves, 1.25 ERA, 28 innings, 18 hits and eight walks allowed, 41 strikeouts
- Colby Maun -- 3-1, one save, 3.92 ERA, 25 innings, 37 hits and four walks allowed, 26 strikeouts
- Evan Weaver -- 4-0, one save, 0.89 ERA, 23 2/3 innings, 22 hits and 13 walks allowed, 35 strikeouts
- Henry Ortiz -- 3-0, 2.47 ERA, 17 innings, eight hits and 11 walks allowed, 27 strikeouts
- Brock Smith -- 1-0, 1.14 ERA, 12 1/3 innings, three hits and nine walks allowed, 24 strikeouts
- Tim Mellott -- 0-1, one save, 2.55 ERA, 11 innings, eight hits and six walks allowed, 10 strikeouts
- Mikey Hawbaker -- 2-0, 4.90 ERA, 10 innings, 14 hits and two walks allowed, 16 strikeouts
- Riley Jackson -- 0-1, one save, 1.75 ERA, eight innings, six hits and four walks allowed, 13 strikeouts
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