Former American author H. Jackson Brown Jr., best known for his book “Life’s Little Instruction Book,” most eloquently summed up Glenelg’s thrilling 3-2 setback to No. 3 River Hill on Wednesday afternoon when he said, “Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.”

Facing the tough pitching tandem of Ryan Walsh and Jonathan Bloom, the Gladiators reached base 17 times and loaded the bases on four occasions, including in the top of the seventh inning. However, a couple of base running miscues and the lack of some timely hits doomed Glenelg as No. 3 River Hill held on for the one-run win.

“I felt like we had more traffic on the bases all day,” Glenelg coach AJ Rosenthal said. “We couldn’t get the big hit. A wide turn around third [that resulted in an out], a sac fly that they said we left early. I don’t think we did … but in a tight baseball game, those are the differences, those little mistakes. Today, it was just a little too much to overcome.”

Conversely, River Hill (14-2) converted a couple of quality scoring opportunities off Glenelg ace Nick Bilotto, including a two-run double by catcher Anderson Dang (2-for-2, three RBIs) in the fifth inning to supply the winning runs. The Hawks also turned three double plays, including a couple of unconventional ones.

“We did all the little things today,” River Hill coach Craig Estrin said. “I think there were two or three double plays. The awareness of the kids when the runner left early at third, it was a good day for us. That pitcher is terrific. I’m tired of seeing him. He’s that good. It was a playoff-like atmosphere.”

Walsh, who started on the mound for the Hawks, helped his cause by opening the bottom of the first with a double to right field. Two batters later, he scored on a sacrifice fly from Dang. River Hill loaded the bases with two out in the inning on a single and two walks before Bilotto (eight strikeouts) struck out Avi Fields to end the scoring threat.

The Gladiators (10-4) looked to tie the score in the top of the third inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Mason Melhuish, but Dane Stamper was deemed to have left the base too early, leading to what was an inning-ending double play.

Glenelg loaded the bases again in the fourth, but was able to scratch out a tying run this time on a ground ball to shortstop. However, the play resulted in an unconventional double play as Bilotto’s courtesy runner was forced out at second on the ground ball, and Aidan Baker was thrown out at third after rounding too far off the base to quell a potential rally.

The Hawks answered with two runs in the fifth on a two-run double to left center field by Dang for a 3-1 advantage. Glenelg left fielder Melhuish laid out for the screaming line drive but came up just short on the attempt.

“I was always sitting fastball, and that’s what I got first pitch, so I tried to attack it,” Dang said. “We saw [Bilotto] last week. He was throwing the same stuff. I’ve had four or five at-bats against him. I just took advantage of what he threw me.”

On a double to right center field by Baker, Glenelg trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the sixth, but Bloom, who took the mound in the top of the fifth inning, limited the damage via a ground out and fly out with runners on the corners.

Things got really interesting in the top of the seventh as the Gladiators once again loaded the bases — this time with two out — but a ground ball, force out to third base ended the contest.

“It’s definitely stressful, but you kind of have to get into your own head and find the zone to get rid of all of the distractions,” Bloom said. “Just zone everything out and dial in. I’ve kind of been in a lot of these situations before. You can’t say you’re good at it, but you at least get better at handling the stress.”

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Anthony Maluso at amaluso@baltsun.com, 567-230-6024,x.com/TonySunSports andinstagram.com/TonySunSports.