John Carroll rallies past Loyola, Calvert Hall powers past Gilman as MIAA A baseball playoffs get underway

Calvert Hall's Jake Lindsey (far left) celebrates his grand slam home run, which powered the Cardinals' 5-2 playoff victory over Gilman, celebrates with his teammates. (Lucas Tambussi)

May 5, 2026

The MIAA A baseball postseason got underway in perfect weather conditions, Monday, with the opening games in a pair of three-team divisional double-elimination playoff tournaments. All six teams are fighting for spots in next week’s best-of-three league championship series.

In the Red Bracket, fourth-seeded John Carroll rallied for a 4-2 win over fifth-seeded Loyola Blakefield, in Bel Air, advancing to face top-seeded Mount St. Joseph, Wednesday afternoon in Irvington. In the Black Bracket, third-seeded Calvert Hall scored four times in the bottom of the third inning and went on to a 5-2 win over sixth-seeded Gilman, sending the Cardinals to a match-up with second-seeded Archbishop Spalding, in Severna Park, also on Wednesday.

Gilman starting pitcher Copeland Naylor appeared in control after striking out the first two batters in the bottom of the third. At that point, he had allowed just one hit and had three K’s. That all changed when Drew Kittelberger stroked a two out double, which was followed by a walk by Luke Kreiner. A passed ball advanced both runners into scoring position, leading to an intentional walk to Cardinal slugger Anthony Williams, loading the bases.

Jake Lindsey then stepped to the plate for Calvert Hall and promptly launched a grand slam over the left field fence, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Ronan Wrenn got Gilman on the board with a RBI single in the top of the fourth, but Calvert Hall starter Hunter Dunst, who worked 5.1 innings to earn the win, got the next two to strand two Greyhound baserunners.

Calvert Hall got the run back with a solo home run by Dalton DePriest in the home half of the fourth. Gilman staged another threat in the sixth as Wrenn delivered another RBI single, but Cardinal reliever Cole Kantorski came on for Dunst and ended the threat with a double-play groundball.

John Carroll scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to erase a 2-1 lead by Loyola. The rally was fueled by a two-run single by Max Darby followed by a run scoring double off the bat of Blake Jourdan.

Joey Coudon had staked the Patriots to a 1-0 advantage with a RBI single in the bottom of the second, but Loyola moved in front with back-to-back RBI singles by Colby Shilling and Will Stark in the top of the third.

The third presented the only challenge for John Carroll pitcher Cam Smith who tossed a complete game in the victory. Smith scattered six hits over seven innings, walking just one and striking out six. Ethan O’Neill made the start for Loyola and worked the first 4.1 innings, surrendering all four runs, only two of which were earned.

In the Black Bracket, Loyola will next take the field on Friday for an elimination game against the loser of the John Carroll-Mount St. Joseph contest. Likewise, in the Red Bracket, Gilman will rest until Friday when it faces the Calvert Hall-Archbishop Spalding loser in an elimination contest.

The finals of both brackets are scheduled for Saturday at the home fields of the higher seeds. Should either bracket require an “if” game, it will be played at the lower seed on Sunday.

The two bracket winners will begin the championship series on Monday, May 11 at the highest overall seed. Game two will be played at on May 13 at Joe Cannon Stadium, at 4:00 p.m., and the third game, if needed, will also be played at Joe Cannon on May 15.