Kaitlyn Schmeiser wasn't Northern's starting pitcher until the 3A South regional tournament began.
Senior centerfielder Chelsea Stern and the rest of the Patriots won their program's first title since 2001.
By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com(see videos below)
Northern pitcher Kaitly Schmeiser is just a freshman. So as her catcher, Kristin Schalk says Schmeiser has a tendency to get nervous – especially in state championship games. That’s where Schalk comes in.
“We always bring joke books,” Schalk said. “It’s kind of my job.”
Schalk did more than just bring the jokes, she also struck out looking with the bases loaded, infuriating Schmeiser, who thought the third strike should have been ball four, and inspiring Schmeiser to pitch the game of her season.
From that point on, Schmeiser shut down Atholton, leading Northern to a 7-0 win over the Raiders Saturday at the University of Maryland. It’s Northern’s first 3A state championship since 2001 and the sixth in program history.
Afterwards, Schmeiser had trouble holding back tears of joy. She credited much of her credit to the easing of her nerves with knock-knock jokes her teammates and coaches tell between innings, before games and the night before big games.
“Huge, huge leadership from the seniors,” Schmeiser said. “Oh my God, just the support from this team is tremendous.”
Schmeiser didn’t even start a game for Northern until the 3A South region playoffs began. Senior Becca Saunders – also one of the prime team jokesters – pitched every game last season and all during this year’s regular season.
“We knew K.K. [Schmeiser] had a lot of talent but there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that,” Northern Coach Robert Radford said. “We just wanted to bring her along very slowly.”
Northern (16-7) was tabbed as a potential favorite for the state championship early in the season but stumbled during tough Southern Maryland conference play. Before the playoffs started, the team gathered for a sit-down discussion to refocus on the team’s goals.
The Patriots came storming out of the gates as Schalk lead the game off with a single. Schalk stole second and moved to third on a groundout. She scored on a passed ball when Atholton starting pitcher Chelsea Ponce covered home and was called for interference.
“I think that that early run that they got on the wild pitch and the controversy … I think that put our kids back a little bit,” Atholton Coach Maureen Shacreaw said. “And we just didn’t really recover from it.”
Northern loaded the bases in the second inning and Schalk came to the plate again. After a long at-bat she was called out looking at strike three, ending an opportunity to blow the game wide open.
Schmeiser came out to the mound with a different look.
“It was a little frustrating to see Shaulk watch something that was probably a ball and then be a called strike,” Schmeiser said. “I figured I do it for her. I got pumped up and angry. And usually when I get angry I throw harder so that helped I guess.”
Schmeiser struck out the side in the top of the third inning and two of three batters in the fourth. She went on to allow just three hits in the game.
Northern scored one more run in the fourth when Caitlin Keppler scored on a wild pitch. The Patriots added five more in the seventh on RBI singles by Schmeiser, Eileen Horsmon and Abby Orlandi, a sacrifice fly by Schalk and RBI triple by Chelsea Stern.
“It’s amazing,” Stern said. “For the senior class to go out with a state championship, that’s really special.”
Atholton, who won just four games last year but had an influx of new players on the team this season, finished the year at 17-6.
“I don’t think that anybody thought that we would make it this far," Ponce said. "We wanted to prove something to the world and we just couldn’t do it.”