2008

CH:   Northern  

F:  Atholton

SF:  Franklin  

SF:  Damascus

3A WEST (#1 seed)

Urbana 15-4 

def #1 Pt Branch (13-5)  8-0

3A NORTH (#4 seed)

#1 Franklin 19-2

def 14-6 Catonsville  5-2

3A EAST (#3 seed)

Fallston 11-8

def 15-7 Northeast  5-0

3A SOUTH  (#2 seed)

#2 Northern (Calvert) 16-2 

def 16-1 #1 Huntingtown 3-1

Northern  4  Franklin 0  (3A Final) 

(5/23) "Northern Repeats as 3A Champion" A year ago, after Northern won its first softball title in seven years, Coach Robert Earl Radford stood on the outfield grass at the University of Maryland's softball complex and told his team the goal was to repeat. Not as the Cinderellas though, but rather as the team expecting nothing less than defending its crown. Yesterday Radford and the Patriots gathered again in the outfield grass at College Park, whooping and high-fiving after capturing their second consecutive Maryland 3A title with a methodical 4-0 win over Franklin of Baltimore. "Everybody felt really comfortable," sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Schmeiser said. "We had all been here before. Last year it was all new. When we came out to warm up, we just felt good and were on point on all our drills. I think the other team might have gotten a little worried watching." Relaxed in the role of the favorite, the Patriots (18-2) began their defense of the state championship in intimidating fashion. Northern rattled off four runs as Kristin Schalk, Eileen Horsmon, Lindsey Schmeiser, Kaitlyn Schmeiser and Tayler Schaefer all recorded hits in the bottom of the first. Franklin (20-3) retired the Patriots' batters in order for the remaining five innings, but the early lead created the only cushion Northern's stalwart defense needed. With nearly an identical infield to the one that played for the 2008 title, the Patriots calmly sent all but one Franklin batter back to the dugout disappointed. "We have such confidence in our defense," Schalk said. "I know [Kaitlyn Schmeiser] is so relaxed out there because she knows if they hit it we're going to be there." Starting in her second straight championship game, Kaitlyn Schmeiser struck out 10 and gave up her only hit in the sixth inning -- but not even that runner was on base for long. After Schalk caught the first pitch to the next batter, the catcher whipped one of her trademark pickoffs to first base to end the inning. The win was Northern's 11th shutout of the season. "They're very workmanlike," Radford said. "The kids understood what they had this year and what they had the ability to do again. For them to come out and do anything differently than the defense and game they've played all year would have been a shock."   Source:  WaPo  Offensive Juggernaut: The Patriots have proved to be one of the premier offensive powers in the state this season, outscoring opponents 170-25. Better Luck Next Time: Franklin made its first appearance in the state tournament this season.

"Northern (Calvert County) Makes it Two Straight in 3A" After winning the Class 3A state softball championship Saturday, a reporter jokingly asked Kaitlyn Schmeiser if she's ready to retire. "No, no, no," laughed Schmeiser. "I got many more years to go." Luckily for Northern-Calvert, Schmeiser has two more springs to add to her already impressive high school resume. The sophomore was the 3A state winning pitcher for the second time in as many seasons, striking out 10 and allowing one hit in a 4-0 decision over Franklin at the University of Maryland's Robert E. Taylor softball stadium. Eileen Horsmon, Kaitlyn Schmeiser, Tayler Schaefer and Abby Orlandi each had a RBI for the Patriots (18-2 overall). Senior outfielder Erin Wolff had the lone hit for Franklin (20-3), which 15-game winning streak was snapped. The Owings school did all its damage with a four-run first inning to claim its sixth state crown, and extend the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference's grip on the 3A state trophy to five straight. Northern-Calvert coach Robert Radford felt a sense of gratification in repeating. "Last year we were the Cinderella team, this year, there was pressure whether it was self-imposed," said Radford. "It just feels different when you win it with the pressure on you. The kids responded." "I think we stepped up from the beginning," said Kaitlyn Schmeiser. "We had a loss to Huntingtown in the beginning, but we didn't let it bring us down, we kept rolling. We knew people had expectations, we knew we had a lot of on our shoulders." Schmeiser's strong right arm was able to weather most of the burden. She faced the mininum Saturday (21 batters), allowing only a single to Wolff with two outs in the sixth. Wolff was picked off by senior catcher Krisitin Schalk to end the inning. Schalk ignited the Patriots' first at-bat with double, then was advanced to third by Julie Orlandi. Horsmon dropped a single into leftfield, scoring Schalk, and Lindsey Schmeiser followed with a single. Horsman and courtesy runner Haley Harbough stole up a base, then Kaitlyn Schmeiser singled home Horsman. A RBI single by Schaefer and sac fly by Abby Orlandi provided Lindsey Schmeiser more than enough support. "We've done it many times and it really intimidates the other team," said Horsmon, who will play for North Carolina-Greensboro next spring. "I couldn't ask anymore of Kaitlyn, she made it easy for the infield. She made us look good." "That's been our m.o. all season, we jumped on them early and then shut everybody out," said Radford. "I was trying to get the kids into the next gear, but the kids were like 'we're good.' The Patriots didn't get another hit off Franklin senior pitcher Jordan Eades (five hits, two strikeouts) after the opening innning. The Indians, who reached the state Final Four for the second straight spring, couldn't erase the first inning. "We all went out there with a lot of nerves, I went out there with nerves," said Eades, who's headed to Morgan State. "We were able to pull it together. If not for the first inning, we'd be in pretty good shape." "Even when we were down four to zip, they didn’t think they we were out of this game," said Franklin coach Ed Lahay said. "Jordan buckled down. We just couldn’t get the bats to come around." It was like that for the opposition against Kaitlyn Schmeiser, who allowed just a run in the postseason and ended with 18 consecutive scoreless innings. She said she hasn't started thinking about an encore next spring. "The whole season I think for us was don't try to impress other people, do it for us," said Schmeiser, "do it for the team." Source: DigitalSports.com

Franklin 7  Urbana 4  (8)   (State Semi-Final)

(5/19)  Franklin's Jordan Eades has always been known as a big game pitcher, and in today's 3A SF she put on one of her signature performances. Eades kept the Hawks' bats' off balance for eight innings and knocked in the go-ahead run in the decisive 8th as Franklin pulled away from pesky Urbana to win 7-4. Franklin will play Northern for a chance at their first-ever state title. "When they kept coming back at us I was pretty nervous," said Eades. "But we were pumped. We wanted this SO bad!"  Eades allowed one earned run on three hits, and struck out six. Franklin scored runs in the third and sixth innings. Urbana answered in the fourth and sixth, to take a 2-2 tie into the ITB extra inning. The Indians pulled away with five runs in the top of the eighth, and Urbana could muster only two. Source: DigitalSports.com

Northern (Calvert) 1  Fallston 0  (State Semi-Final)

(5/19)  Northern coach Robert Radford knew the defending 3A champs couldn't afford to go to the ITB in eight innings. He got his wish -- late -- in the seventh when the Patriots beat Fallston 1-0 on a bloop single to center by senior Chelsea Nieman that scored freshman SS Lindsey Schmeiser, who had singled to lead off the inning. Schmeiser then advanced to second on a sac bunt, then stole third, to put herself in position to come home. Source: WaPo

Fallston 5   Northeast (Anne Arun. Co,)  0  (3A East Final)

(5/15) The Fallston Cougars couldn’t score a single run in the first eight innings of their Regional Championship against Northeast-AA. Northeast-AA couldn’t score a single run in the nine innings of softball they played battling the Cougars for a Regional Title. But the Cougars did find a way to score five runs in their ninth inning, capitalizing on well placed bunts and an errant throw to take the title of the 3A East Girls’ Softball Regional Champions. Starting the ninth with an excellent bunt by Nikki Williams, an overthrow at first allowed Katie Bradley to score from second base, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth, and another bunt-single placed by Sam Demarco, the only Cougar to amount two hits, set the stage for the rest of the Fallston scoring. Following an infield error, Val Strawbridge and Elizabeth Deckelman both broke open the ninth inning with a couple of singles, taking a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning, where the Cougars held Northeast-AA scoreless for the win. Strawbridge defeated Heather Brown in a true pitchers’ duel, allowing just three hits, one walk and striking out nine batters, Brown did her part from inside the circle, pitching eight shutout innings and striking out nine batters.  Source: DigitalSports.com

#1 Franklin 5   #3 Catonsville 2

(5/15) Right-hander Jordan Eades (16-2) gave up two runs off five hits and struck out seven as the host Indians (19-2) beat the Comets in the Class 3A regional final.

 

#2 Northern 3   #1 Huntingtown 1   (3A South Final)

(5/15)  Tayler Schaefer's two-run double in the top of the first inning highlighted Northern's seven-hit attack that led the eighth-ranked Patriots to a 3-1 victory at rival Huntingtown and gave the defending Maryland 3A champions another 3A South region title. Northern (16-2) avenged an early-season loss to No. 6 Huntingtown (16-1), thanks in part to its decision not to use sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Schmeiser in that game, fearing the Hurricanes' familiarity with her might work to their benefit. Schmeiser scattered six hits and struck out six yesterday, but got a huge lift from her catcher, Kristin Schalk. Trailing 3-1 with one out in the bottom of the fifth, and runners at the corners, Huntingtown's Jess Warner stole second. Rather than throw to second, Schalk fired a perfect throw to third baseman Abby Orlandi to pick off the lead runner and deflate the Hurricanes' rally. "We went from being real nervous to seeing their hopes go from high to pretty far down," Schalk said. Source:  WaPo

 

Urbana 8   #1 Paint Branch 0   (3A West Regional Final)

(5/14)  Urbana had made four trips to the 3A West softball finals in the past six years and lost all of them, including last year to Damascus by one run. So one would think the Hawks would be a little tense entering this year's final against Paint Branch, who boasted a 5-3 win over the critic's favorite, Damascus. But Urbana came off their big bus happy and hyped and got back on it the same way for their trip home. "I think as soon as we left the school we gained confidence," said sophomore C Kristen Juengerk. "We were ready to play. We were all having a really good day."  The 15-4 Hawks -- who, like Damascus and Seneca Valley received a random slot (#11) because they did not have the minimun 14-game prerequisite to be seeded -- advance to the state semi-finals. After Urbana's Katie Sebbane flew out on the first pitch of the game, Paint Branch proceeded to enable the Hawks in the first inning, starting immediately thereafter by overthrowing first on Juengerk's routine grounder to the 2B'man. PB's blunders just kept coming. The Hawks' third batter grounded to SS but the throw was dropped at first by PB's Rachel Hollis, who compounded things by overthrowing 3B trying to get Juengerk, who subsequently scored. Stephanie Murphy hit a fielder's choice to short. The throw home was in time but was (incredibly) dropped again to allow the second run in. After that, Urbana's bats took over and pounded PB in the second and third innings, via several extra-base hits and a sac fly scattered around the diamond and into the outfield. Juengerk ended up 2-4 with 3 RBIs, Jessie Trammel was 2-4 with 2 RBIs, and Stephanie Murphy was 1-4 with 2 RBIs in the middle of Urbana's linieup. Freshman P Alexis Murphy allowed just three hits in her 8th game of the season. She is Urbana's third starting P after the first two got hurt. Over three playoff games she has surrendered just one run and eight hits. "That young lady had been phenomenal down the stretch for us," said Urbana coach Frank Husson. "They call her the Diesel. Once (she) gets going she gets stronger and stronger as it goes on." Paint Branch's coach Nate Wiles said "We had an incredible season. We've come a long way. I'm so proud of these girls. We're young (with a stellar JV squad) and we'll be back." There should be some serious competition for positions next year at Paint Branch. Source: adapted from DigitalSports.com

Northeast 1  Howard 0  (8)  (3A East)    A pitcher's duel taken into the extra inning.

(5/13)  In a thrilling defensive duel, Northeast's ace Heather Brown and her Eagle teammates outlasted Howard's fine pitching tandem of Kensey O'Neill (5 innings) and Samantha O'Conner (final 3 innings). The duo caused problems for N'east because of their different styles. Howard coach Ed Holshue made the right call just as Northeast seemed poised to get to O'Neill. O'Conner came in in the 6th inning with no outs and runners at first and third. Howard, with 10 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, finished an otherwise excellent season. Brown (UMBC-bound) finished with six Ks and one walk. The game's only run came in the top of the eighth, with the ITB-runner starting on second. N'east's Lizzy Wedell hit a fielder's choice grounder to second after the runner had moved to third earlier. Howard's mistake may have been in playing their infield too deep with that runner on third and the game in the balance. Northeast is one regional final victory away (they will play Fallston) from their 15th trip to states. Coach Kenny Miller said this was the Eagles' best defensive effort -- exemplified by making no errors -- but also by getting the ball to the right spot when Howard placed runners. Melissa Henderson added a double for Northeast, which was also the only x-tra base hit for either team in the game. Source: adapted from DigitalSports.com

@#1 Paint Branch 5  Damascus 3  (3A West)

(5/11)  In easily one of the more shocking upsets of the regional playoffs, Paint Branch’s softball team upended Damascus 5-3, in the 3A West region quarterfinals. Despite being "unseeded", Damascus, coming in at 13-1, was the prohibitive favorite in this region. The only reason they were not seeded #1 was because they failed to play the minimum 14 games necessary to gain a seed. With the Hornets (and Seneca Valley and Urbana too) failing the requirement, the #1 seed fell to the Panthers, who obviously took a large chip on their shoulders into the game. Paint Branch took an early 2-0 lead but Damascus battled back to lead 3-2 in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Paint Branch’s Cathleen Carey and Lyssie Parkhurst reached base and Emma Schultz drove them in with a deep triple to center field. Katie Stoner then lined a single off off Damascus pitcher Megan Alexander and Schultz scored the final run for a three-run inning. Parkhurst and the defense (including a hold-your-breath long fly out to the outfield) then slammed the door in the top of the seventh.Offensive leaders were Stoner with a triple and two singles, Schultz with a triple, a single and 3 RBI's. Parhurst pitched seven strong innings, only allowing three runs on six hits. Damascus Coach Barb King, who guided the Hornets to last year’s 3A state semifinals, will be retiring after this season according to the Damascus school website. Source: adapted from DigitalSports.com

Fallston  2  Stephen Decatur 1   (3A East)

5/12  Throwing a no-hitter through six innings, Fallston’s Val Strawbridge was on the verge of perferction, and with a two-run lead, another post-season victory. But in the bottom of the seventh, the Cougar ace let go of a pitch that Stephen Decatur’s Shae Nottingham drilled for a solo homerun to break the no-hitter, but St-D still fell short of Fallston, 2-1. Greer McComas opened the Fallston Offense in the second inning, launching a solo-homer, and doubled in the fourth with one out to be brought in on an Elizabeth Deckelman RBI single.Strawbridge was superb from the rubber, giving up just one hit, one walk and striking out 11 batters. Source:  DigitalSports.com

Bel Air 10   Meade 0   (3A East)

5/11 The Bel Air Bobcats are on a roll in the 2009 girls’ Softball Regional Tournament, picking up two wins and heading into the Regional Semifinals against Fallston, Wednesday. In the first round, pitcher Erin Morrissey was as dominant as ever from inside the circle, pitching a two-hit shutout over Meade, 10-0. Striking out eight batters, Morrissey gave up no walks and no earned rusn, as the Bobcats posted 20 hits for 10 runs in just six innings. With the win, the ‘Cats moved on to round two of the Regional playoffs, taking on Natalie Baker and the Aberdeen Eagles at Harford Community College. Pairing Morrissey against the Aberdeen ace was sure to cause a low scoring game, but the respective shutouts extended all the way to the bottom of the ninth inning, When Tiffany Proctor and Morrissey laced together two hits of the game winning run of the day.

Pitching all nine innings, Morrissey struck out 15 batters and allowed just two hits, while Baker held down her side of the defense, allowing one two hits herself. Aberdeen’s hits came from a Malloy triple and a Baker single, but the team was unable to produce any runs from either one. Bel Air is now set to take on the Fallston Cougars in the Regional Semifinals, which always proves to be a tough outing.  Source: DigitalSports.com

Damascus 12  @Sen Valley 1  (3A West) 

(5/8) After singling to shortstop in the fourth inning, senior Taylor Wyatt rounded third base and drew Seneca Valley's attention as senior LF Cassie Clayborne trotted across home plate. Wyatt made it all the way to third base on the delayed throw home. Heads-up plays like that led the Swarmin' Hornets to a 12-1, six-inning win in what could have been the MD 3A West Regional final. "They played at a much higher level than us," Seneca Valley coach Larry Raum said. "They made us do things we normally wouldn't do."  Damascus (13-1) and SV (12-3) boasted the best records in the region, but missed out on on being seeded #1 and #2 because each failed to gain the state's 14-game minimum prerequisite. Friday also served as the defacto 3A/2A/1A County North division title game; it was the teams' sixthe attempt to make up their originally scheduled game from April 15. "There was much buildup to this game," said Damascus coach Barb King. "The kids came in focused. We warmed up without a single error. No bad throws. I felt really good at the beginning . . . I'd rather play the tougher teams. I'd rather be tested in the playoffs. That way you know you earned your way there."  Freshman 1B Tori Dagan went 4-4 at the plate with a double and 3 RBIs. Senior CF Stephanie Hudlow (2-3, 2 RBIs) and senior P Megan Alexander (3-4, 2 RBIs) were relentless at the plate. Tatiana Puhnaty scored SV's only run in the third inning. "They know what to do with the ball," Raum said. "They have a good chance of winning the (3A) state championship."  Source: Gazette (Jennifer Beekman)

Franklin (20-2)

def Urbana 7-4  (8)

Northern (Calvert)  (17-2)

def Fallston  1-0  (8)

2009

3A

Northern

4-0

  C: Northern  18-2

  F:  Franklin  20-3

SF:  Urbana  15-5

SF:  Fallston   11-9