Going into the last inning, the Fever loaded the bases with a singles by Woolls and Ray and a walk by Moore. Crosswhite then came to bat and hit a tournament winning grand slam home run.
The tournament victory secured a berth to the Pony National Championships in Carey, N.C., which the WHC Fever will participate in this July.
Maryland Stars travel
The Maryland Stars 14-U girls fastpitch team finished in second place in the Maryland Stars Spring Sparkler tournament in Winfield. Behind the strong pitching of Emily Speierman and Sami Main, the Stars were strong offensively and won one game against the Heartbreakers and tied one against the tournament champions, Parkville Thunder.
The Stars opened the tournament with a 9-9 tie with the Parkville Thunder. The Stars came out strong with a leadoff single; the runner scored on a double hit by Speierman, one of two Howard County residents on the team. Alina Milauskas, the other Howard Countian, lined a ball to left field to score two more runs in the inning
Speierman collected two doubles for the game. Sara Driggers, Milauskas and Emma Adams picked up two hits each to lead the offense.
In their second game, the Stars faced the Heartbreakers, who loaded the bases in the first inning, but the Stars managed to find a way out without any damage done. The Stars followed up their stellar defensive performance with 3 runs.
The second inning went smoothly defensively with Speierman striking out two batters. The Stars came up with three runs and demonstrated their patience at the plate with three walks for the inning. In the third inning, the Heartbreakers went three up, three down and again, the Stars scored another three runs to make the score 9-0. The Heartbreakers did push a run across the plate in the fourth inning, which made the final score, 9-1.
Soccer
Columbia Soccer Club travel
The CSC Galaxy (U-17 boys) had a busy, exciting and successful conclusion to their spring season.
Memorial Day weekend, the Galaxy Premier braved three days of sweltering heat and humidity to secure a win in the U-17 Elite Division of the Columbia Invitational Memorial Day Tournament.
In the first game, the Galaxy tied the Arundel Attack, a National Capital Soccer League rival, 1-1. The Galaxy fared better in games two and three beating the Upper Chesapeake Falcons and the Baltimore Bays Blues, both by scores of 2-1.
The Galaxy again faced the Falcons in the championship game and came out the winner in overtime. The Galaxy's Cam Britton, Sadiq Jobe, Anthony Russo, Charlie Smith and Michael Watkins all made their penalty kicks and goalie Warren Johnson, stopped the final Falcon shot to secure the 2-1 victory.
On June 5, the Galaxy maintained their second-place standing in NCSL Division 3 by crushing the Southwestern Youth Association Surge,10-0. Peter Park started off the scoring drive on a free kick just outside the penalty box in the 11th minute. Paul Park scored minutes later on a penalty kick after being taken down by a Surge defender.
The Galaxy then ripped open the Surge defense as Saad Memon chipped in a goal after a well-placed cross from Kaegan Ingham and Watkins, one of the Galaxy's finest poachers, scored three goals. The first came after Johnson sent a punt behind the Surge defense and Watkins dribbled the ball around the goalie and fired a low shot into the right corner. The second goal was tapped in after a crossing pass from Paul Park and his third came in the final 10 minutes as the Galaxy played keep-away and practiced their possession techniques.
Additional goals were scored by Paul Park, Toma Ivanov, Anthony Rice and Ingham. The Surge was kept scoreless by the defensive team of Smith, Peter Park, Danny Sogunro, and Brad Carrion and several key saves by Johnson.
The Galaxy played their final game of the season June 12 at West Springfield High School as they took on frequent opponent, the SYA Stallions. The Galaxy knew that a win or tie would guarantee them second place prize in NCSL Division 3 and a chance to move up to Division 2.
The Galaxy scored first in the 35th minute after Rice crossed the ball to Britton and he sent a powerful shot past the goalie after it deflected off a Stallion defender. The Galaxy didn't score again until the 65th minute as Ingham's persistence paid off and he drilled the ball into the back of the net after the goalie batted away the first shot.
The Galaxy struggled in the second half with only one substitute and extremely humid weather. However, despite two late Stallion goals, the Galaxy held on for a 2-2 tie with the help of its stalwart defense of Smith, Carrion and Sogunro, and multi-purpose player Garrett Blanchard.
