Bruins ride fast start to win

Broadneck sprints out to 4-0 lead in first, earns mercy-rule upset victory

Despite a victory Friday, Broadneck softball coach Deanna Romeo-Hamilton was concerned the Bruins mustered only five hits and a run.

Those concerns were put to rest Saturday in the District V Showcase against No. 5 Mount Hebron when the No. 13 Bruins scored four runs in the first and matched their hit total from the day before en route to a 10-0, mercy-rule victory over the Vikings.

Noelani Herrera, who drove in Broadneck’s only run Friday, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and leadoff hitter Julia Harrison also went 3for-4.

Every spot in the Bruins lineup except the ninth hitter contributed a hit in the 15-hit attack.

“It’s a great thing to put up multiple runs in the first inning. I like scoring any runs in the first inning, but multiple really puts Ally [Thompson] at ease and puts the defense at ease,” Romeo-Hamilton said. “Even when we get back up to the plate, they’re a lot more aggressive and they just feel more relaxed. And that’s a huge thing.”

Things started inauspiciously for Broadneck as Mount Hebron loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter with one out in the first. But showing the reason she is a threetime All-Anne Arundel County selection, Thompson got the next batter to pop to second baseman Aley Oberdorf, invoking the infield fly rule, then struck out the next batter looking to end the threat.

“Just to get out of that inning, it gave us momentum and we came into the dugout to hit and scored runs. It just pushed us through the game,” Thompson said.

In the Bruins’ first turn at the plate, Thompson hit an RBI double, Herrera added an RBI single, Cassidy Ellis hit another RBI single and Madi Christie hit an RBI groundout that staked Broadneck to an early 4-0 lead. MH B 000 412 WP: Thompson (2-0). LP: Kinsella. 2B: B—Hassler, Oberdorf, Thompson. RBI: B—Christie 2, Herrera 2, Thompson 2, Ellis, Hassler, Oberdorf.