Chesapeake High School junior Kelly Hickman is congratulated by teammates after her three-run home run in a 10-6 victory over Broadneck in the Class 4A East Region finals on Saturday.
Kelly Hickman
Chesapeake softballHickman, a junior second baseman and two-year varsity starter, blasted two home runs and drove in a combined five runs in two victories for the
Cougars (22-2) this past week.
Hickman's two-run homer over the fence in left field sparked Chesapeake's a
3-0 victory over visiting
Arundel in the Class 4A East Region semifinals Thursday. She did it again two days later -- this time, a three-run blast -- to lead her team past
Broadneck,
10-6, in the region championship.
"I didn't want to bunt," Hickman said Thursday. "When we played earlier in the season, (Arundel pitcher Kayla 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 first bomb landed in the trees.
"Kelly's had a bunch of bombs this season and she definitely did not miss that one," Cougars' coach Don 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."
Broadneck topped Chesapeake during the regular season, 2-0, and again in the Anne Arundel County championship, 4-2. But the 10 runs surrendered Saturday was twice as many runs as the Bruins have given up in a game all season. It was in the third inning when Hickman (1-for-2, two walks) blasted a three-run home run over the fence in left field to give Chesapeake a 4-2 lead it would not surrender.
"Kourtney (Salvarola) doesn't give me a lot of strikes," Hickman, who jumped on the first pitch from the Broadneck starter, said Saturday. "I just took advantage of it."
Chesapeake will meet Linganore in the Class 4A state semifinals at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie at 7 p.m. Tuesday. If the Cougars can get by Linganore, they will take aim at their second straight state title.
Hickman's cumulative statistics on the season:
|
#
|
PLAYER
|
GP
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
SB
|
AVG
|
|
10
|
Hickman, Kelly
|
24
|
68
|
27
|
32
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
19
|
2
|
0.471
|