Severna Park Softball Rides Big Third Inning To Beat Broadneck, 9-2

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Relying on timely hitting and a strong pitching performance, the Severna Park Falcons strung together a five-run third inning to take the lead and eventually beat the visiting Broadneck Bruins 9-2 on March 30.

The Lady Bruins got things started with a bang as just three batters into the first inning, Sam Waters hit a two-run home run to dead center field. The Falcons responded with a run in the bottom of the second when Addison Bianco scored on a passed ball by the Bruins catcher.

In the bottom of the third, the Falcons broke the game open as they batted around, getting five runs on five hits in the inning. On the mound, Falcons pitcher Christina Ballagh hurled an 84-pitch complete game win. Once Ballagh got out of the first inning, she allowed just one more hit the rest of the game, a double to Addie Cornelius in the top of the seventh inning.

Ballagh was backed up by solid defense from the Falcons, who turned two double plays on the day, including a highlight play by senior third baseman Livi Driver, who dove to catch a line drive and then tagged out Cornelius, who had come off the bag, to end the game.

“We put a couple players in different spots, and I think it paid off. They made some really big plays,” said Falcons head coach Meredith McAlister. “Offensively, we used our speed and we really hit the ball hard in key situations. We were really working on the bases. Speed is a factor some people forget about, so I think it was necessary to take extra bases.”

While this was a great win for the Falcons, McAlister said that going forward, her team needs to “keep throwing the hammer,” essentially making sure that they keep pressure on their opponents and don’t let them come back.

“That’s what happened to us against South River: we were up 5-2, we let them come back and we lost 8-5,” she explained. “So it was nice today to go down, come back and continue to put it away, keep the pressure on.”

For Bruins head coach Beth Mackel, it was a disappointing loss. “We made a lot of mental errors,” she said. “We just got in our own heads and we just couldn’t get a batter out in the third. But going forward, our team had good enthusiasm, they never gave up and continued to have good at-bats. We just have to work harder.”

With the win, the Falcons improved to 2-1 on the season. They followed it with a 12-11 loss to Arundel before beating Old Mill 9-7 and Meade 14-1 to get to 4-2.

The Bruins fell to 2-2 with the loss to Severna Park.

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