<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3TjdEn_0tLx9GnM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3TjdEn_0tLx9GnM00" width="1200" height="800" ></figure>For years, every single player on the Walter Johnson High School softball team had one dream: win a state championship. It was a dream they worked, played, cried and lived for. And Tuesday night, May 21 the Wildcats were the closest they’ve ever been to seeing that dream become reality with just two outs separating them and a berth in the Maryland 4A state final.But dreams are fragile, and the Leonardtown High School Raiders woke the Wildcats from their dream with a 12-6 final score to erase the 6-3 lead the Wildcats had held going into the top of the seventh inning.“I think we all put in a lot of work and effort into the game, and it was really hard fought. It was a very tough loss. It’s sad to think of that because of how close it was, but it doesn’t take away from the amazing season we have had,” sophomore left fielder Abby Koenig said.From the get-go, the Raiders brought the heat. Almost immediately, the Raiders opened with a run scored by sophomore Vanessa Brooks off of multiple errors to allow her to advance.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2rsrz9_0tLx9GnM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2rsrz9_0tLx9GnM00" width="399" height="599" ><figcaption>Sophomore shortstop Addie Strbak hugs sophomore catcher Alina Bonior after scoring a run to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning. ( Seyun Park )</figcaption></figure>But the Wildcats would stand undeterred. Sophomore shortstop Addie Strbak led off with a single before sophomore third baseman Ella Reynolds hit a home run to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning.The two teams would trade the lead back and forth, with the Raiders making it a 3-2 ball game in the top of the second before the Wildcats tied it up in the bottom of the third inning and took a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a bases-clearing double from senior second baseman Carly Gilder.“I had been struggling a bit with that pitcher and had finally made the adjustment and it felt great to do something positive for the team,” Gilder said.Protecting that 6-3 lead was the task at hand for the Wildcats in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. They would get four of the required six outs before a three-run home run from Leonardtown junior Lindsay Hunter in the top of the seventh inning tied up the game once again.In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the opportunity to walk off the game, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize as emotions ran high in the dugout. Despite the Raiders intentionally walking Reynolds, Strbak was called out for being out of the batters box, Rosenberg was forced out and Raiders pitcher junior Claire Radford struck out sophomore catcher Alina Bonior to retire the Wildcats.In the top of the eighth inning, with National Federation rules, a runner automatically started on second base, and the Raiders would eventually score six runs. As pressure built and tears began to shed in the Wildcats dugout, the dream slipped further and further away. The top of the eighth inning was the dagger to the heart that the team would not be able to recover from.The bottom of the eighth inning ended with four at-bats from four WJ seniors: Gilder, Ellie Langley, Mackenzie Norris and Allie Berube. Norris hit a single while Radford struck out Gilder and Langley, and Berube grounded out in the final at-bats of their high school careers.Radford threw 117 pitches in total, 91 of which were strikes, combining for 10 strikeouts. WJ senior pitcher Sami Rosenberg threw 154 pitches and 8 strikeouts.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2pnMP7_0tLx9GnM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2pnMP7_0tLx9GnM00" width="899" height="599" ><figcaption>Senior second baseman Carly Gilder enters her swing. Gilder hit the go-ahead double to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. ( Seyun Park )</figcaption></figure>With their dream fully shattered, dust in the hands that should have been touching state silverware, reality set in. For WJ’s seniors, who played their final game Tuesday, the jarring nature of the game left them in shock.“No matter how the season ended, it still would have been devastating to leave this team behind. The people on this team are some of the kindest souls you will ever meet and it truly hurts knowing my last season is done,” Gilder said. “It sucks how the season ended but nothing can take away from the memories our team has made along the way.”Others echoed how much WJ softball meant to them.“I had more fun this year than I did in all of my years playing high school softball … I loved every second of every game, practice and any time spent with the team,” Langley said.For the team that has accomplished so much in their last four years, falling short so close to the finish line was heartbreaking. The ultimate prize that seemed just within reach shattered before anyone could lay a finger on it, and left the players picking up the individual pieces of the dream they once all shared.Throughout the season and even in their final game, the Wildcats played through just about every injury that they were medically allowed to and overcame every challenge thrown at them — injury and fatigue were never an excuse.Strbak played through extreme pain after taking a direct hit to the shins from a Leonardtown infielder and still went 3 for 4. Rosenberg, after having pitched 130 pitches the night before in the state quarterfinal, went right back out to the circle to pitch another 150. And the entire team, playing in uncharted territory in their first-ever state semifinal, played confidently, courageously and with complete conviction.But ultimately, the injury that ended the Wildcats’ season, and shattered their dream, was the one that went to their heart.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Leonardtown deals heartbreak to softball in extra innings

For years, every single player on the Walter Johnson High School softball team had one dream: win a state championship. It was a dream they worked, played, cried and lived for. And Tuesday night, May 21 the Wildcats were the closest they’ve ever been to seeing that dream become reality with just two outs separating them and a berth in the Maryland 4A state final.

Leonardtown deals heartbreak to softball in extra innings

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