No. 11 Patterson Mill softball strikes early, often to open season
Forgive Patterson Mill softball coach Jeff Horton if he looked a little confused. He actually had to use three pitchers in a game, something he’s not used to doing.
Horton and his new-look Huskies made the trip to Century in Carroll County on Wednesday and used a four-run first inning to build a lead they would never relinquish in a 15-1 win over the Knights in the season opener for both schools.
Last year, ace pitcher Madison Knight, The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro softball Player of the Year now playing a Syracuse, took care of all the pitching for Horton and the Huskies. This year, they are doing things a little differently.
“It’s been at least 10 years as a coach that I’ve used three different pitchers in the same game,” Horton said. “This might end up being the new Patterson Mill.”
Sophomore starter Lily Baldwin pitched three innings and gave up the only run that the 11th-ranked Huskies would allow in the first. In the fourth, sophomore Audrey March took over and pitched two innings before giving way to senior Alyssa Miller for the sixth and seventh. The trio combined to allow only seven hits and struck out 11 Knights.
At the plate, the Huskies showed their aggressiveness right from the beginning, playing small ball to manufacture runs. Sophomore Mackenzie Knight, Madison’s younger sister, led off with a single and stole second base before scoring on a throwing error to give Patterson Mill a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Savannah Reedy singled two batters later, scoring Kaylyn Pulket to make it 2-0.
March then singled to left field in the next at-bat, scoring Reedy. After a groundout moved her to third, a single by Lilly Hofmeister scored March to make it 4-0 just a half-inning in.
Century got one back in the bottom of the first. With two outs and no one on, Kayla Malloy beat out an infield single. She scored on Century’s only extra-base hit of the day when catcher Emma Zuckerman doubled.
Century junior pitcher Jordan Currie settled down in the second, but her defense betrayed her. After Knight reached on a throwing error that put her on second base, the Huskies used her speed again to steal third. Pulket plated her to make it 5-1.
Patterson Mill’s pitching just kept getting stronger. Meanwhile, the offense kept scoring in the last three innings, using some timely hitting and some Century miscues to bring home 10 runs.
“This season is going to be a lot different, and I feel like we’ve jelled as a team, and we’ve earned each other’s trust,” Reedy said. “It’s been hard to adjust [without Madison]. She was the glue that kind of held us together, now we all have to work together more to achieve our goals.”
For the Knights, the game was a learning experience.
“This is a really young team, and we’re going to have bad innings,” Century coach Kim Perdue said. “I think we played with them for a few innings. I think Jordan pitched well, but we made some big-time mental errors behind her. We’ll learn from this loss to a good team and we’ll be better for it in the end.”
Other softball scores Manchester Valley 17, C. Milton Wright 7:
Down five runs to C. Milton Wright after a disastrous top of the first inning, Manchester Valley coach Michael Hernandez didn’t flinch. He knew with all the work his team put in at the plate in the offseason, it would take more than five runs to defeat his Mavericks.
“They came out smacking the ball pretty good,” he said. “But I knew we had what it takes to respond.”
The Mavericks did, indeed, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first and continuing to hit as they went on to defeat C. Milton Wright, 17-7, in their season opener.
“It’s great to get the first one,” Mavericks pitcher Makenna Deane said. “I’m excited for what’s to come.”
The Mavericks notched 16 hits in a productive day at the plate for most of the lineup. Deane, April Bitzel,AshleeHipsley,AlexCarroll, KaseyThomasandBrookeSimsall started their seasons strong with multi-hitgames.Bitzelwent3-for-3, shakingoffanyrustfrompreseason scrimmages and practices.
Havre de Grace 10, North East 8 Francis Scott Key 2, Catoctin 0 Westminster 4, Franklin 1 Linganore 4, South Carroll 1 Broadneck 17, Annapolis 0 Chesapeake-AA 5, Old Mill 4 Southern 11, Meade 0 Northeast 26, North County 5
Baseball
C. Milton Wright 9, Manchester Valley 6
Liberty 5, Bel Air 2
Westminster 3, Franklin 1
South Carroll 9, Linganore 4 Gerstell 5, Winters Mill 3 Catoctin 6, Francis Scott Key 3 Patterson Mill 7, Century 6 Kenwood 15, Edgewood 4
North East 13, Havre de Grace 2 North County 6, Northeast-AA 3 Southern 17, Meade 0
Broadneck 12, Annapolis 1 Severn 8, AACS 1
Crofton 8, Glen Burnie 0
Old Mill 6, Chesapeake 5 Joppatowne 11, ACCE 3
Boys lacrosse Culver Academy (Ind.) 13, No. 2 Boys’ Latin 5:
By season’s end, if all goes as planned and the No. 2 Boys’ Latin lacrosse team reaches its ultimate goal of a conference championship, its performance Wednesday against Indiana power Culver Academy will be an afterthought. But as the Lakers left their home field after a humbling 13-5 loss to the Eagles, it stung.
Seemingly settled in after taking a 3-2 lead five minutes into play, the Lakers unraveled. And while lacrosse is often considered a game of momentum swings, the visitors took it and didn’t let go.
The Eagles scored nine straight goals and held the Lakers scoreless for 30:16 before Jackson Walsh stopped the run with a man-advantage goal with 4:06 to play in the third quarter. At that point, Culver led 11-4.
At this time last year, Boys’ Latin claimed a 9-8 win over Culver, which finished the season with a 20-2 mark. This season, Culver (7-1) came into the week ranked No. 3 nationally by Inside Lacrosse with the Lakers (3-2) at No. 10.
A game expected to be highly competitive instead turned into a rout, with Culver getting a two-goal, two-assist performance from junior midfielder Mason Szewczyk to lead a balanced attack and senior goalie Colin Vickery making eight saves.
“Better everything today,” Boys’ Latin coach Brian Farrell said of the Lakers’ opponent. “Better game plan. Better coaching. Better execution. Better everything. We just didn’t really have an answer for anything they did.”
Junior midfielder Liam White scored goals two minutes apart to give the Lakers a 3-2 advantage before the Eagles took over.
Towson 16, Eastern Tech 2 Hereford 19, Sparrows Point 3 Havre de Grace 14, North East 4 Edgewood 7, City 6
St. Albans 11, Gilman 8
Winters Mill 9, Gerstell 8, OT
Girls lacrosse
Hereford 18, Sparrows Point 2 Towson 16, Eastern Tech 3