Josh Hader made one bad pitch on Thursday.

The senior lefty from Old Mill High gave up a first-inning triple then cruised the rest of the way, as the Patriots topped rival Arundel High, 5-0.

Hader helped his own cause with an RBI single in the first inning and his teammates added four more runs in the fifth inning. The Patriots moved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in county play. The Wildcats fell to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in county.

Relying heavily on his fastball, Hader struck out 11 Wildcats in seven innings, while walking four batters.

“I figured I’d right after them with my fastball until they hit it, and it worked the whole game,” Hader said. “I had my fastball in command.”

His lone mistake came on a slider to Arundel’s FX Graham who lofted a deep fly ball to center for a triple in the first inning. Hader left Graham on third base after striking out the side.

Arundel starting pitcher Cooper Hibbs gave up one run in four innings before being relieved.

In the fifth, Old Mill got two RBIs on a double from first baseman Zack Baker. Catcher Brian Ratzburg added a two-run single.

Old Mill coach Jeff Martin said this year’s Patriot team has meshed together well as a team, and was especially impressed with its improvement on defense. He also said seniors like Hader have shown maturity.

“As a coach, my main thing is leadership from my seniors, and these guys definitely have it,” Martin said. 

Old Mill hosts Loyola Blakefield on Saturday, then resumes county play against Broadneck on Monday.

Arundel’s next game is at Glen Burnie on Monday.