There has long been a debate over the value of county championship games in the different sports played throughout the school year, but there is no doubt which side of the argument the Severna Park baseball team is on.

Credit coach Jim McCandless and his staff for their dogged work in getting the team's field ready on short notice Thursday, enabling the No. 3 Falcons and No. 10 North County to get in a quality championship game that could have easily been canceled due to this week's rainy weather.

Patience was the key. The game was moved from Joe Cannon Stadium to Severna Park and was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., but a quick rain shower in the early afternoon pushed it back to 5 p.m. while more work was done on the infield.

At any point prior to the start the game could have been called, and with the playoffs approaching, it would not have been made up.

Had that happened, Severna Park senior outfielder Tom McCarthy wouldn't have a lasting memory. In the fourth inning of the Falcons' 7-5 win over the Knights, McCarthy cleared the fence in right for a three-run homer that was the first of his baseball career.

After the game, McCarthy was asked: First ever, even Little League?

"Yep," he said with a smile.