River Hill’s softball team looked to be in trouble early as starting pitcher Christina Romano had some soreness in her throwing arm and had to exit the game in the bottom of the first.
But reliever Emily Posey came in, got out of a bases loaded jam and steadied the No. 13 Hawks, who used a three-run seventh inning to claim a 6-5 victory over host Glenelg.
“This was a tough, hard-played game,” said River Hill coach Marni Rosenbaum. “In the first inning, my starting pitcher was having some arm problems and didn’t have control out there. Emily Posey came in and pitched fantastic for us.”
Sophomore right fielder Meg Sterling went 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in two RBI to lead River Hill (4-1 overall, 4-1 Howard County). Sophomore center fielder Amanda Bendix also went 4-for-4 and hit a leadoff home run for the No. 16 Gladiators (2-2, 2-2).
“This was a big game in the county and we have a lot of confidence going into games after the tough teams,” said Sarah Rusenko. “Beating Marriotts Ridge was the start of it and now we’re really confident and comfortable playing together.”
Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, Sterling hit an RBI single that scored Katie Woolls to draw the visitors to within a run. An inning later, Posey helped her own case with a sacrifice fly that scored Abbey Defeo to tie the score.
Glenelg regained the lead in the bottom of the third after sophomore shortstop Leah Allen (2-for-3) scored on passed ball after reaching on a bunt single.
In the top of the fifth, Sterling again scored Woolls on a single to tie the score and in the top of the seventh, the Hawks took the lead for the first time.
Woolls earned a walk, Caitlin Porter legged out a bunt and Sterling hit a single to load the bases. Paige Pritchard hit an RBI single to score Woolls, breaking a 3-3 tie. After an out, Rusenko drove in two runs with a single to give the Hawks a 6-3 advantage.
/IMG_0551_large.jpg "Glenelg's Amanda Bendix crushed a solo home run in the bottom of the first.")
“We were seeing the ball really well and once one person got a hit, it trickled down and everybody started hitting,” Rusenko said.
The Gladiators tried to mount a comeback in the bottom half of the inning.
Bendix hit a single to begin the inning. Chloe Scepura drove her in with a single but was thrown out trying to advance to second base. Allen hit a double and was driven in by Kayleigh Shaul to close the deficit to one run.
With two runners on and two outs, Posey got the last batter to line out to third base to end the game.
Glenelg, the defending Howard County champions, lost several players from a year ago and start several underclassmen. Errors in the field and on the base path hurt the Gladiators.
“We’re very young. We finished the game with four freshmen and that’s not an excuse because those girls play high-level softball all summer long,” said Gladiators coach Jim Schmidt. “I just don’t know that right now we have the intensity that we need. I think we’re counting too much on our reputation.”
No. 13 River Hill 6, No. 16 Glenelg 5
RH 011 010 3 — 6 9 1
G 201 000 2 — 5 10 5
Romano, Posey (1) and Defeo, Rosburg (2); Segrist and Redmond.
2B: G-Allen.
HR: G-Bendix.
RBI: RH-Sterling 2, Rusenko 2, Posey, Pritchard; G-Bendix, Scepura, Shaul.
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