Poolesville's Rachel Stream blasted a two-run homer to left field to give the Falcons their first lead.
Catcher Ali Gost tied the game with an RBI-double right before Stream. Gost was playing with a strained quadriceps.
By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

As soon as Rachel Stream stepped onto the rubber to start the fourth inning, Poolesville’s players took a collective deep breath. They were trailing by a run, but all-of-a-sudden it seemed the momentum swung the Falcons’ way.

“Rachel does that when she comes out on the mound,” Poolesville catcher Ali Gost said.

Stream not only shut Damascus down for the remainder of Wednesday’s game, she also hit the game-winning home run in the top of the seventh inning, sending 1A Poolesville to a 5-3 win over previously undefeated Damascus.

“I feel like I hold the team together,” Stream said. “I’m there for everyone that’s behind my back. And they’re there for me. It’s just everything comes together when I’m there.”

The win doesn’t do much for Poolesville (13-1) in the standings considering they are in a different division than Damascus (12-1). The Falcons already lost the division title by falling to Paint Branch. But a win over such a Montgomery County powerhouse like Damascus does give Poolesville hope for winning the region final, which the Falcons lost the past two seasons.

“This really does boost our confidence a lot,” Poolesville center fielder Christy Wyne said. “We didn’t know if we were going to beat Damascus. This was one of our biggest games and now we feel we can do anything.”

Down a run entering the top of the seventh inning, Wyne started Poolesville’s rally with a one-out infield single. Gost, who was limping the entire game due to a strained quadriceps muscle that nearly brought her to tears when she crouched behind the plate, tied the game with a booming double to left field.

“I took a deep breath and was like, ‘I’ve got to do this now or it’s not going to happen.’ I just looked for it, hit it and once it hit the bat I attempted to run.”

Stream stepped to the plate next and after looking at one pitch she nailed a long fly ball over the left fielder’s head. She scorched around the bases for a home run to give the Falcons their 5-3 lead.

“I think that’s the hardest one I’ve hit,” Stream said.

Poolesville coach Laurie Wohnhas opted to start Alexa Brown instead of Stream to get Damascus off-balance. Brown pitches considerably slower than Stream. But Brown struggled to find the mitt. She escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and again in the second after Taylor Wyatt drove in one run on an infield hit and Amanda Ray brought home two more with a long double.

Poolesville rallied for two runs in the top of the inning as Stream started the rally with a single, followed by an RBI double by Megan Foy. Foy got caught in a rundown but scored when a throw sailed over third base.

Stream took the mound in the bottom half of the inning. She retired the Hornets in order in her first two innings and escaped a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning when she covered home following a wild pitch, tagging out a Falcons runner trying to score.

Stream ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as the Hornets had runners on second and third with no outs. She induced an infield pop-fly, then once again tagged out a Hornet trying to steal home on a wild pitch for the second out. Stream speared a grounder up the middle for the final out.

“The way Rachel was pitching, I was wondering why I didn’t start her,” Wohnhas said with a laugh. “This says a lot for our program.”