Softball Roundup: Local Teams Earning Metro-Area Respect

Okay, as I prepare to dive back into the high school sports realm, let me first apologize for the superior jinx I placed on the Orioles.

I take full responsibility seeing as how after I wrote last week, proclaiming this the dawn of a new era, the Orioles responded by losing four straight and stand at 6-6 (as I write this entry Saturday morning.)

But while the Orioles hot start ultimately fizzles, I want to switch gears to softball and mention a few teams that have started the season hot and maintained their success so far this season.

Of the six schools I cover for Patch, two (Franklin and Lansdowne) have cemented themselves in the Baltimore Sun’s high school sports poll, and a third (Catonsville) is scratching the surface of breaking into the list.  

So, I’d say it’s about time I put the Orioles (and baseball, in general) aside for a moment, and give these softballers some love.

Franklin

The Indians garnered a lot of respect this preseason. Now, about midway through the year they continue to earn more acclaim and currently own the No. 6 position in the high school poll.

Franklin boasts a solid 7-1 record, its only loss coming out of division at the hands of Seton Keough. However, the Indians truly showed their resolve by responding with an impressive 6-2 victory over a tough Dulaney squad just three days later.

Led by Mary Sobota, the Indians pitching staff has been nothing short of dominant. Franklin has allowed just 10 runs in its eight games (four of those runs coming in its 4-0 loss to Seton Keough.)

Sobota has whiffed a ridiculous 54 batters in just 40 innings of work and lays claim to a 0.70 earned run average. She is also leading the Indians at the plate with a .6333 average and is tied for the team lead in RBI (10) with teammate Jordan Monck.

Road games versus Perry Hall and Eastern Tech are on the horizon, as well as a rematch at Dulaney.

Lansdowne

Prior to the start of the season, Vikings head coach Jamie Izdebski to make a dent in county play en route to a return trip to College Park for the state championship.

Nine games into the regular season, her girls are proving her right. Lansdowne is 9-0 (4-0 in division play) to open the season and has earned the No. 8 ranking The Sun poll.

In wins over Patapsco, Owings Mills and Loch Raven this week, the Vikings outscored their opponents a combined 30-7.

And, while the Owings Mills and Patapsco wins were blowouts, Lansdowne proved they can pull out a close wins as well, topping Loch Raven 7-6 with a Kelli Pease go-ahead RBI in the bottom of the seventh.

While Pease, Sera Stull, Hunter Long and Maude McCourry have ignited the offense, McCourry has been masterful on the mound. In Friday’s double-header (against Owings Mills and Loch Raven) McCourry struck out a combined 24 batters in her 14 innings pitched.

Catonsville

The Comets 6-1 record to open the week had them listed in The Sun’s “other team’s considered” portion of the high school polls. However, after losses to Mount de Sales and Perry Hall (a close 4-3 defeat), their status may just be in jeopardy.

However, that doesn’t annul the steaming hot starts from Shelby Alther and Maggie Waters, who each own batting averages of over .700.

In addition to the hitting, Catonsville coach Billy Nelson is especially pleased with the staunch infield defense he’s gotten out of his squad en route to a, still very respectable, 6-3 record.

Still, Nelson knows that his Comets’ schedule does not get much easier as the season presses on. Catonsville faces the likes of Towson, Eastern Tech and Hereford in the upcoming weeks, and will need that clutch hitting and sound defense to continue on its winning ways.