North Point softball loses to Calvert
Cavaliers prevail on senior day
With their high school days together on the field and in the classroom rapidly drawing to a close, Calvert High School seniors Carleigh Bartholomew and Taylor Bowen wanted to celebrate senior day in a manner that had eluded them the previous three years on the squad — with a win.
After being honored before the game, Bartholomew and Bowen made contributions with their gloves and their bats as Calvert (8-9 overall) jumped out to an early lead against visiting North Point (12-4) and never looked back en route to a 9-5 victory in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference crossover contest.
Both seniors helped the Cavaliers gain an early lead in the second inning without taking a swing and helped protect the lead for hurler Skylar Clark with their defensive efforts.
“We knew this was our chance to end the regular season with a win,” said Bartholomew, who went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs, plating Bowen with one of them. “The three previous years we had always lost on senior day. We wanted to win this one. We came out and hit the ball well and we made good plays on defense. The whole year has definitely been one big highlight.”
While Bartholomew had an unusually light day of work at shortstop, recording only two putouts and no assists, Bowen, who went 1 for 2 at the plate, drove in two runs and scored once, tracked down a pair of fly balls in left that appeared destined for extra bases.
“This whole day I was really excited to play and I felt really good when I went to the outfield,” said
Bowen, who plans to attend York College (Pa.). “This was definitely one of out better games. We knew they were good, so we really wanted to win on our senior day. Now we want to win some games in the region tournament.”
North Point head coach Tony Jones opted not to throw senior ace Bri Baker against Calvert since the Eagles were slated to face Leonardtown in the SMAC championship game on Tuesday. Gabby Edison started but could not get through the second inning then she and sophomore shortstop Katie Delph traded positions for the remainder of the contest.
Even in defeat, North Point out-hit Calvert 12-8, but the Eagles committed a handful of errors that enabled the Cavaliers to score six unearned runs. Edison took the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, while Delph allowed five runs, of which only one was earned.
“Today was definitely not the way we normally play,” said Delph, who went 3 for 4 and scored three runs. “We wanted to save Bri until the SMAC game against Leonardtown, so we had some people playing different positions today. We still needed to make more plays.”
Calvert scored four runs in the bottom of the second as Madison encountered trouble that she could not escape. After Amanda Curran opened the inning by reaching on an error, Cameryne Free walked, then Katie Wolcieszek delivered a two-run double down the left-field line.
With one out, Bowen was hit by a pitch on the left tricep, then Tori Thrasher beat out an infield single to load the bases, at which point Jones switched Edison and Delph. Bartholomew worked Delph for a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, then Gabby Toney was hit by a pitch to allow another run to score for an early 4-0 Cavaliers lead.
North Point answered with two runs in the top of the third when Madison Powell had a one-out double, Delph singled, then Powell scored on a sacrifice fly by Edison and Delph scored on a single by Bri Baker. But Calvert regained a comfortable lead by scoring three runs against Delph in the bottom of the third, two on a double by Bowen, who later scored on a two-out single by Bartholomew.
Calvert added two more unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth against Delph and that gave the hosts plenty of breathing room to offset two runs by North Point in the fifth and another in the seventh.
Clark yielded five runs on 12 hits to collect the win, while four of the five runs that Delph allowed were unearned and she did not factor in the decision after inheriting a deficit.
The Cavaliers and Eagles begin the regional playoffs later this week.