The Broadneck High School softball team won its second straight Anne Arundel County championship with a 4-2 win over Chesapeake on Thursday. The last six meetings between the teams have been decided by two runs or less.
Chesapeake High School junior pitcher Lauren Gibson gave up only four hits against Broadneck but three of them were round-trippers, which sealed the Bruins 4-2 win.
Kourtney Salvarola is one of the top softball pitchers in the county, there's no denying that.
Teams also learned this season that the
Broadneck High School sophomore can swing the bat and she seldom saw pitches she could hit.
The third trait she exhibited during the Bruins' 4-2 victory over
Chesapeake in the Anne Arundel County championship Thursday at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie was her quickness on the base paths.
Salvarola hit two home runs in the game and both came off high fly balls that got over the outfield but stayed inside the park. After both hits, Salvarola didn't watch to see where the ball went, she simply put her head down and ran. On both hits, she was literally rounding second base when the ball finally hit the ground giving the Cougars' defense little chance to catch her.
"I would say that's another positive I have -- I'm pretty quick," said Salvarola, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Salvarola hit a solo shot in the first inning to open an early lead for the Bruins (17-2) and her two run-blast, coupled by a solo home run from sophomore third baseman Diana Naylor, in the sixth sealed Broadneck's second straight county championship title.
The victory was sweet, but barring a major upset, these two heavyweights should meet again in the upcoming Class 4A East Region finals. The Bruins nipped Chesapeake (19-2) in last year's county final, 2-1, but the Cougars came back to pull out a similar 2-1 win over the Bruins in the region championship on their way to a state crown.
As the teams shook hands at home plate after the game, Cougars' coach Don Ellenberger congratulated Broadneck skipper Jim Ware and made plans for their future date, "We'll see you again soon."
"We really hope to see them next Friday," said Ware, whose team is responsible for the only two losses on Chesapeake's current record. "I think we're two good team playing very well right now."
Salvarola took a no-hitter into the seventh and it was broke up when junior Amanda Montgomery laced a single up the middle to lead off the inning. Junior Megan Butzer walked, freshman Brianna Prince reached on a fielder's choice and then the Cougars finally started to show some life on offense.
The next batter, leadoff hitter Samantha Pettie, reached first on a throwing error, which also scored two runs and cut Broadneck's lead in half.
"At the time, I told the girls that we need to make it interesting," said Ellenberger, whose team became the runner-up in the county championship for the fifth time in seven years.
"Kourtney had shut us down and pretty much dominated in the circle -- and circling the bases, she did that pretty well today, too. We got two runs in ... the girls didn't give up. That's a sign, as a coach, you hope you bring to your team and see every day. It was an unbelievable game."
The Bruins eneded the rally when Naylor had a heads-up up play, threw home and senior catcher Megan Heins put the tag on Pettie. Salvarola struck out Chesapeake's starting pitcher, Lauren Gibson, to close the door.
"Scoring in the sixth really took a lot of the pressure off us," said Naylor, who took the first pitch she saw from Gibson over the head of Lauren Gottleib in left field. "I just wanted to run really hard. I looked at my coach, he gave me the sign and I ran as fast as I could."
Gibson gave up four hits -- Lauren Battista reached on an infield single in the sixth and would later score -- and the junior finished with five strikeouts.
Salvarola fanned nine and struck out the side in the second, but walked seven. She got out of two bases-loaded, no-out jams and credited her defense for making the plays.
"I want to talk about the defense behind me," Salvarola said. "They bailed me out when I was in jams. The defense was amazing in this game."
Senior Corie Seitler made a huge snag in right field for the Bruins. Sophomore shortstop Ashley Thomas caught a Butzer line drive in the fourth and then gunned down Montgomery (1-for-2) at first base for a double play.
Chesapeake (19-2) 000 000 2 - 2 1 0
Broadneck (17-2) 100 003 x - 4 4 1
WP: BN - Salvarola. LP: CH - Gibson. HR: BN - Salvarola 2, Naylor. RBI: BN - Salvarola 3, Naylor 1.