Pitching depth is a luxury that few softball teams enjoy, and it was the difference yesterday as No. 5 Northeast defeated No. 12 South River, 11-5, to win its first region title since 1991.
Normally one windmiller pitches most of the games, but that's not the case at Northeast where third-year coach Marianne Shultz uses three pitchers. It was junior Lisa Gordon's turn yesterday against South River's overworked Jennifer O'Neill.
Gordon (3-1) took an 11-1 lead into the last inning before giving up four runs and four of the 10 hits she yielded for the game. O'Neill, who lost a nine-inning, 4-2 decision to Northeast (17-6) earlier in the season, had just pitched the Seahawks (12-10) to a 15-0 romp over Poly on Friday.
Shultz got a sterling eight-hit, 1-0 victory over North Caroline from freshman hurler Stacy Smith (8-3) in their region semifinal. Northeast won its fourth straight state championship in 1991, but has not been to the final four since. And Gordon's fresh arm was clearly the difference in the Eagles' return.
"This team is gaining confidence and peaking at the right time," said Shultz, who started four freshmen yesterday. "They're very young and they don't put un-due pressure on themselves."
The Eagles advance to Tuesday's state semifinals at Randazzo Park in Severn, where they will play Great Mills at 3 p.m. Great Mills edged Glenelg, 3-2, in the South Region final yesterday.
Through six innings yesterday, the only run Gordon gave up came on a double by Crystal Bassford (3-for-4, two RBIs, two runs) and Laura O'Neill's RBI single in the top of the fourth.
Northeast got seven of its 15 hits, all singles, in the third inning.
"We always seem to have one bad inning and Jennifer's back was bothering her, but we have no one else to pitch," said South River coach Steve "Moose" Rose. "She has pitched every inning but three for us this season. . . ."
Freshman Deana Benner, the Eagles' third pitcher, beat out a bunt to load the bases and Shelly Guy, Shana Mrowczynski, and Amanda Shifflett followed with straight RBI hits. Shifflett's hit scored a pair, an error brought another home and Kristin Briggs (4-for-5) capped the rally with a two-run single.
"I was concerned going in against O'Neill because she throws a lot harder than the Caroline pitcher we faced last night [Friday]," said Shultz. "We changed our lineup a little bit and that was a big inning."
South River scored four runs with two out in the top of the seventh but Gordon wasn't worried.
"We just had to buckle down and improve our concentration, " said Gordon, who also went 3-for-4. "We're young, but I know we're going all the way."
Pub Date: 5/19/96
