Chesapeake High School junior Kelly Hickman blasted a two-run home run in the sixth inning to propel the Cougars to a 3-0 win over Arundel in the Class 4A East Region semifinals Thursday.
Arundel High School sophomore Kayla Martinez held the Cougars at bay for five innings. She finished with five strikeouts.
As soon as the ball came off Kelly Hickman's bat in the sixth inning, the entire
Chesapeake High School softball team drew a long sigh of relief.
For the second day in a row, the Cougars scored the runs they needed late -- Hickman's two-run blast over the fence in left field -- and pulled out a 3-0 victory over visiting
Arundel in the Class 4A East Region semifinals Thursday.
Chesapeake (21-2), the top seed, will host No. 3
Broadneck (21-3) -- a 9-0 winner over
Glen Burnie -- in the region finals Saturday at 10 a.m. The game, originally scheduled for Friday, was rained out. The defending state champion Cougars have dropped their last two meetings with the Bruins, including the Anne Arundel County championship last week.
"Our theme lately has been that we can't score early but we score late," said Chesapeake coach Don Ellenberger, whose team had two base runners tagged out at home in earlier innings before plating all three of its runs in the sixth.
"(Kayla) Martinez kept her team in it. We put a couple people on but they made every play. Then all of a sudden, Hickman comes up with a big hit and it lets you breath a little bit."
Martinez and Cougars' ace Lauren Gibson were each dominant in a pitcher's duel until Gibson led off the sixth and used a little speed to spark the Chesapeake offense.
"When the pressure's on, we're really good," Gibson said.
Her shallow blooper to left fell about two feet inside the third-base line and she stretched it out into a double. The Wildcats (14-6) had trouble getting the ball back to Martinez and Gibson (2-for-3) took advantage of the mishap by advancing to third.
Gibson, who was tagged out at home earlier, was ready to put on the after burners but a simple trot home would suffice after Hickman, the next batter, took the second pitch she saw from Martinez over the fence in left.
"It was really nice to know that we had those runs and a little cushion," said Gibson, who finished with 14 strikeouts, gave up three hits and two walks.
"I knew that whatever was going to happen, the other girls were behind me and Kelly really did a good job."
With Gibson on third and no outs, Hickman thought she would get the bunt sign from Ellenberger.
"I didn't want to bunt," Hickman said. "When we played earlier in the season, (Martinez) was striking everyone out on the inside corner. I was looking for an inside pitch and just drove it. I knew it was over but I didn't know it was over the second fence."
At Chesapeake, the home run wall is listed at 200 feet on the baselines. In left field, there is additional fence about eight feet farther back in front of trees. Hickman's bomb landed in the trees.
"Kelly's had a bunch of bombs this season and she definitely did not miss that one," Ellenberger said. "That's probably the longest one she's hit so far this year and that includes in practice. It was timely and she's a clutch player."
Senior shortstop Angela Yannone followed with a stand-up double that bounced off the wall in center field. Junior outfielder Amanda Montgomery grounded out but drove in Yannone from third for an insurance run.
In the regular season, the Cougars had to rally back for a 5-4 win over Arundel on March 31. The Wildcats entered the contest Thursday on a five-game win streak and coach Alison Grava knew her squad could hang with the champs.
"We were beating them in the sixth inning the last time we played so I expected more," she said.
"I expected to come out fired up and do exactly what they did. Unfortunately, a couple things happened and it's any given day. On any given day, a team can walk out onto a diamond, hit the ball, run the bases and do well. Today just wasn't it for us."
Martinez, a sophomore, finished with five strikeouts and leadoff hitter Amanda Hedgepath went 2-for-3 with two singles.
Gibson tallied at least one strikeout every frame. She caught several Arundel batters on a third-strike change-up.
"They have a lot of good hitters," Gibson said. "They had an idea of where I was going with the ball so I just tried to mix it up a little bit."
Arundel (14-6) 000 000 0 - 0 3 2
Chesapeake (21-2) 000 003 x - 3 6 0
WP: CH - Gibson. LP: AR - Martinez. 2B: CH - Yannone. HR: CH - Hickman. RBI: CH - Hickman 2, Montgomery.