Reservoir takes Howard County softball lead
S. River wins walk-off; Gilman upsets John Carroll in baseball
With first place in the Howard County softball standings up for grabs Monday, visiting Reservoir embraced the moment against Marriotts Ridge. The No. 8 Gators, who feature seven seniors, played like an experienced group who expected to be competing for the county title.
“I think the team has had this goal for a while now,” Reservoir coach Julie Frisvold said. “This has been their goal, and I will say that I’m impressed with how they’re attacking, how they’re leaving it on the field, and that’s what’s important here.”
The loose and loud Gators excelled in the fundamentals, while the No. 10 Mustangs (10-3, 10-2 Howard County), played “scared” and “tentative,” according to coach Renard Parson, which showed in the box score and on the scoreboard. Reservoir (11-3, 11-1) pounced early with three runs in the first inning and avenged its only county loss of the year in a 4-1 victory to take sole possession of the first place in the league.
The Gators lead the Mustangs and defending co-county champions Howard by one game in the loss column with five county games remaining.
“This is an amazing feeling. The girls went out there and did what they needed to do,” Frisvold said. “I think [Marriotts Ridge’s] Mikayla [Barnard] pitched a phenomenal game, so we had to play great defense and really come through. This is a really good feeling right now.”
Reservoir strung together four Reservoir’s Macayla Allen scores during the No. 8 Gators’ 4-1 win over No. 10 Marriotts Ridge to claim first place in Howard County. straight two-out hits and sophomore left fielder Macayla Allen hit a bases-clearing double in the top of the first inning, and it proved to be all the runs freshman pitcher Kylee Gunkel needed to out- duel Barnard, the Mustangs’ All-County senior pitcher who allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts.
Marriotts Ridge answered with a run in the bottom of the first, as second baseman Molly Nies (3-4) drove in Madi Costigan (2-4, double) on an RBI single, but couldn’t solve Gunkel the rest of the way. Gunkel, who struck out four, walked one and allowed six hits and one unearned run in six innings, stranded seven runners and never allowed a runner beyond second base after the first frame. She induced12 fly outs and two groundouts.
“We just have to make adjustments. We knew she was throwing the curveball away and we were being a little bit too anxious,” Parson said. “We needed to be a little more patient today and that’s why were popping everything up. ... That’s an adjustment we’ve madein earlier games, but today we never made it.”
Senior Emma Bailey allowed a pair of two-out singles but closed the door in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Gators to their seventh straight win.
“It’s a really big win. As a team, it’s a growing moment, moving from a middle-of-the-pack team last year to being at the top of the county now,” said senior first baseman Breann Smith. “I think we’ve always known it, it’s just about building off each other rather than playing as individuals.”
Parson said the same issue that has cost the Mustangs throughout the season bit them again against Reservoir: defense. They made four errors and misjudged the ball to left field that scored the three firstinning runs.
“We have to catch fly balls,” he said. “We work on it in practice it but we have to execute it in the game, and we have to be more timely with our hits.”
NO. 13 SOUTH RIVER 8, OLD MILL 7: Andrea Thompson hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Seahawks edged the Patriots after seeing a five-run lead evaporate in the sixth inning.
Katy Conroy drove in three runs and Jess Adams pitched seven innings and struck out 11 for South River (10-3).
Shelby Kingston went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Old Mill (4-11).
Baseball
GILMAN 3, NO. 1 JOHN CARROLL 2: Right-hander Mike Willis pitched five scoreless innings in relief and Max Costes drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning as the host Greyhounds upset the previously undefeated Patriots in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play.
Willis, who took to the mound at the start of the third inning with the game tied at 2, allowed one hit and retired the last seven batters. Gilman is 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the MIAA A, while the Patriots (16-1) fell to 11-1 in league play.
Costes finished with two hits and drove in two runs.
NO. 8 ARUNDEL 1, NORTHEAST-AA 0: Dan Ownby and Moises Aristy combined on a five-hit shutout and Matt Hagemann scored the game’s only run on a double play as the Wildcats (12-3) beat the Eagles (9-6).
Girls lacrosse
BROADNECK 14, ANNAPOLIS 1: Five Bruins scored at least twogoals in a victory over the Panthers (5-7). Sammy Dupcak scored three goals for Broadneck (6-5), which scored the game’s first five goals and won eight of the10 draws in the first half.
Molly Murnane scored off an assist from Cammie Schniedwind for the Panthers’ only goal.
WESTERN TECH 12, LANSDOWNE 10: Tiara Miller had four goals and five draw controls, Bria Fassler added three goals and Bea Daudelin made 18 saves to lead the Wolverines (4-4) over the Vikings (6-3).
Alexis Patterson led Lansdowne with eight goals.