Ryken still among the unbeaten

Knights softball beats McNamara in bottom of seventh to go to 10-0

Spring has sprung for the St. Mary’s Ryken Knights softball team and they’re not letting up.

Ryken, fresh off a perfect 4 for 4 trip in South Carolina last week, continued its winning ways back in Maryland on Monday afternoon, scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to prevail over Bishop McNamara High School of Prince George’s County 4-3 in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference contest.

The Knights went to 10-0 overall, 6-0 in WCAC play, with the win. Head coach Jim Sewell said the team is mentally strong.

“They gave us a contest,” Sewell said, referring to Monday’s win. “We prevailed with a 4-3 final.”

Ryken came out and scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but McNamara took the lead with three runs in the top of the third. The Knights answered in the bottom half to tie the game. It wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh that Ryken scored the winning run.

“The girls are hard to rattle,” Sewell said. “They’re just mentally tough. A little hard on their coaches nerves, but we’re doing OK. McNamara likes to go to the short game with bunts and slaps and once they get on the bases they’re really quick. It was great for my team to experience that type of offensive attack and they handled it really well.”

Sophomore outfielder Jaelyn Gorham hit an over-the-fence home run in the victory.

“The sophomore’s hot,” Sewell said.

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., the Knights swept all four games in four consecutive days that started March 29, outscoring their opponents by a combined 31-3. They defeated Jefferson (W.Va.) 8-0, South Range (Ohio) 3-0, Grove City (Ohio) 9-3 and George Washington (W.Va.) 11-0

“We went to Myrtle Beach and swamped that competition down there,” Sewell said. “Three out of four teams we shut them out. We got some good work done there.”

Junior first baseman Katie Prebble is batting over .600 right now, while starting pitcher Madison Aughinbaugh is doing what she always does, according to Sewell.

“There was a team down there [in Myrtle Beach], I believe Ohio that we went 3-0. Maddie just had to sit on them. They switched from the long game to the short game and we stopped them.”