A trio of Southern Maryland Athletic Conference softball teams headed to the Bachman Softball Complex in Glen Burnie on Tuesday for their respective state semifinals and two of them punched their ticket to the state championship game at the University of Maryland this weekend.
Huntingtown (18-4) broke open a 2-2 contest by scoring six runs in the top of the seventh inning to upend Damascus (19-3) 8-2 on Tuesday afternoon in a 2A state semifinal. Hurricanes’ junior hurler Jordyn Greever limited the Hornets’ potent attack to two runs on six hits and she contributed to the cause in the seventh by delivering a two-run single to left that punctuated the rally.
“Jordyn has been amazing us all season and she’s really getting better as the season goes on,” said Huntingtown coach Mike Johnson, whose team will face Rising Sun in the 2A state finals on Friday at 5:30 p.m. “Then in the top of the seventh we did everything that we were supposed to do. We had left some runners on base in the previous innings, but the girls came through with some clutch hits in the seventh to break it open.”
Huntingtown scored two runs in the top of the first inning against Damascus starting pitcher Alyssa Clark. Hurricanes’ senior shortstop Kelsie Bandelow (3-for-5) led off the game with a single then two batters later senior catcher Emily Dove belted a two-run homer to left center to give the Hurricanes a quick 2-0 lead.
Damascus drew even with a run in the second and then another in the sixth on a bloop single to right that scored Clark, but the Hurricanes countered with a six-run seventh to break it open. Madisyn Williamson drew a bases loaded walk to force in Kayla Ripple then Olivia Kendrick added a bloop single to left and Greever followed with a two-run single to left.
“I knew when I made contact that it was going out,” Dove said of her home run. “We just knew that we had to keep focused. Jordyn was amazing. Her changeup really kept them off balance.”
Leonardtown and Walter Johnson of Montgomery County were in a similar tight clash through five innings until the Wildcats Karlee Dilger gave them a three-run lead with a base-clearing double off Leonardtown hurler Claire Radford. But the Raiders rallied to tie the contest in dramatic fashion in the top of the seventh when Lindsay Hunter belted a three-run homer off Wildcats’ left-handed pitcher Samantha Rosenberg.
Leonardtown then proceeded to break the game open in the top of the eighth, played under international tie-breaking rules with a runner starting on second base. Lead runner Cali Harclerode scored when Vanessa Brooks beat out a bunt single and the throw sailed down the line. Sarah Fortescue followed with a base hit then three batters later Hunter delivered a two-run single to center, for her sixth and seventh runs batted in of the night.
“In the top of the seventh, I was just looking for something to hit and drive,” said Hunter, whose team will face Eleanor Roosevelt of Prince George’s County on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a clash of teams with Raiders for mascots. “When I hit it I didn’t think it was going out, but I knew that I made good contact.”
Radford settled down after the three-run fifth and did not allow another run over the last three frames and finished the outing with 10 strikeouts, including four in a row at one stretch. One day earlier Radford was in the circle for all 12 innings as the Raiders edged Crofton 3-2 in a 4A East Region clash.
While Huntingtown and Leonardtown advanced to their respective state championship games this weekend, Chopticon saw its near-perfect season come to an end on Tuesday when the Braves were upended by Linganore of Frederick County 4-1. Both teams were involved in a scoreless deadlock through four innings, then the Lancers plated four runs in the fifth and limited the Braves to one run over the next two innings.
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