While many observers look for hitters to take charge in baseball and softball championship games, coaches in both sports stress the importance of pitching and defense in those contests as well. The Leonardtown High School baseball and softball teams emerged with state titles this spring because of their strengths in those defensive traits.
Leonardtown softball captured its first state title on May 25 with a 14-0, five-inning victory over previously undefeated Eleanor Roosevelt High School of Prince George’s County as junior pitcher Claire Radford fanned 11 batters en route to a perfect game. Not only was Eleanor Roosevelt unable to get one hit, none of its batters smacked the ball out of the infield.
Radford had set the tone early by striking out the side in order in the bottom of the first then proceeded to fan at least two batters over each of the next four innings. None of her outfielders recorded a single putout because the remaining four outs included two grounders and two pop-ups to infielders. Radford threw strikes on 41 of 57 pitches and helped her own cause in Leonardtown’s eight-run third with a single.
“Once we were able to get the lead, I was able to relax and focus on throwing my pitches,” Radford said. “I wasn’t even thinking about the no-hitter or the perfect game. Nobody in the dugout ever mentioned it. I just wanted to go out there and make pitches and rely on my defense.”
Leonardtown coach Kim Schrader commended Radford on her flawless performance in the championship game, which occurred during a busy, dramatic week that featured a pair of extra inning games during the state playoffs. Junior first baseman Lindsay Hunter had been the hero of the state semifinal victory over Walter Johnson High of Montgomery County, collecting seven runs batted in during the 12-6, come-from-behind victory.
“Claire was wonderful today and all season,” Schrader said after the championship game. “She’s a real workhorse for us. Once we gave her the lead she really relaxed.”
One night earlier in the 4A state baseball championship game at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf over Memorial Day weekend, Leonardtown prevailed 2-0 over Walt Whitman High of Montgomery County as senior left-handed pitcher Will Buckler blanked the favored Vikings on just two hits. Leonardtown also took advantage of two key Walt Whitman errors, leading to the pair of unearned runs the Raiders needed to prevail.
“During the season we really didn’t have any standout starting pitchers,” Leonardtown second-year coach Austin Guy said. “We had three guys that were really good, but they all had their ups and downs. We finally got things turned around right before the playoffs. During the run all of those guys were fantastic. Will was tremendous in the state championship game and we made all the plays behind him.”
Guy delayed informing Buckler that he would be the starter on the mound for the championship game until an hour before that contest. That decision proved mutually beneficial as Buckler limited the Vikings to two hits in seven scoreless innings and the tardy notice allowed him to get several nights sleep.
“I didn’t find out until we got to the park,” Buckler said. “I’m glad that he didn’t tell me before that because I probably would not have gotten any sleep Wednesday night or Thursday night.”
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