4 Arundel

It's tough enough winning a doubleheader. When you win two under pressure the way No. 4 Arundel did yesterday, there is only one thing to say:They earned it, and that might be an understatement.The Wildcats had to win a pair to take the South Division title and earn a spot in Wednesday's 7 p.m. county baseball championship at Northeast High against top-ranked Old Mill (18-2), the North champion.Arundel (16-3) swept South River, 18-7, and Annapolis, 9-8, to finish 8-2 in the South tied with No. 10 Severna Park (13-6)

The Arundel girls soccer team made it a priority to drive hard to the goal in Friday's Class 4A East regional semifinal against Anne Arundel County rival Broadneck. The No. 4 Wildcats' reward was impressive connections for goals in each half, producing a sturdy 2-0 win over the No. 13 Bruins in Gambrills. Clarissa Kirsch-Downs set up Allison Shaner on the first goal and then scored the insurance goal in the second half. The Wildcats (16-1) next face South River in the region title game.

Only one of the opposing left-handers in yesterday's Arundel-at-Old Mill showdown made it through the second inning. That was Old Mill's Doug Stockman, who hung on until Arundel's Scott Young doubled home two fifth-inning runs to break an 8-8 tie and boost the Wildcats to an 11-8 victory.Young's two-out, two-strike liner to the fence in center field gave No. 4 Arundel (7-0, 4-0) the early lift over second-ranked Old Mill (4-2, 2-1) in Anne Arundel County 4A. It also made a winner of right-hander Larry Dobson (1-0)

Arundel coach Chuck Markiewicz thought his team seemed a bit nervous in the first part of Friday night's game at Old Mill. But once the Wildcats settled down, they took command. No. 6 Old Mill jumped out to a 14-point lead midway through the second quarter. That's when Arundel quarterback Jack Gordon and wide receiver Tyler Young helped the Wildcats make numerous big plays and score 40 consecutive points en route to a 66-34 rout which ended the Patriots' 19-game winning streak. That streak was the Baltimore area's longest active one, and Old Mill (5-1)

Visiting Seton Keough had all the early-season answers last night in Gambrills, continually staying a step ahead of No. 4 Arundel to come away with a comfortable 59-44 win.The No. 7 Gators (3-0) were first to the boards, a step ahead of the Wildcats' pressing defense and able to hit the big shot when needed to put Arundel (1-1) away in the second half.Denise King led the way with a game-high 16 points for the Gators, who got strong inside play defensively from Sarah Walsh, Laura Stromberg and Jackie Valderas.

Northeast senior wrestlers Tyrone Eaton and Tony Serio are similar in many ways, but also different.Each is a solid student. Eaton, a 145-pounder, carries a 2.8grade-point average and has scored 1,010 on his Scholastic Assessment Test. Serio, the Eagles' 189-pounder, has not yet taken the SAT, but has a 3.5 GPA.Their relative inexperience in wrestling belies the success they've enjoyed. Eaton, only in his third year in the sport, was a county runner-up last year and fourth-place finisher at regions.

Have you heard that former Northeast infielder Don Gilbert, All-Metro in 1987 and the Anne Arundel County Sun Player of the Year, was released recently by the Baltimore Orioles?Gilbert signed with the Orioles a couple of years ago and had done well with the rookie team in Bluefield and was expected to play for the club's Single-A affiliate in Frederick this season."It was a surprise because I had heard that he was doing well," said Baltimore Orioles scouting supervisor Jim Gilbert, who is no relation to Don."

FOOTBALL Class 4A East regional final: No. 6 Broadneck (9-2) @ No. 4 Arundel (11-0) WHEN -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. OUTLOOK -- The county's best two teams meet for the right to advance to the state semifinals. The host Wildcats are looking for their first regional title since 1983, while the defending regional champion Bruins are looking to claim their fourth regional title in five years. The Wildcats lost to Old Mill, 18-12 in last year's regional semifinals, and have been on a mission to go to the final four ever since.

Arundel's Chavonne Hammond and Severna Park's Jennifer Holmes, opponents during the high school season but teammates in the off-season with the Anne Arundel Hurricanes, are going to be college teammates.Holmes has joined Hammond as a scholarship recipient to Vanderbilt, a team highly ranked in preseason publications. As juniors, the two made All-County and were named preseason honorable-mention All-Americans by Street & Smith's.Hammond announced two weeks ago that she was headed for Nashville to play for the Commodores, and she and Holmes will sign a letter of intent today.

Northeast played for a berth in the county championship game in the last regular-season game for the second year in a row and won again, this time beating Old Mill, 3-2, last night at Harry Lentz Field in Pasadena. Last year, Northeast beat visiting Severna Park to clinch a title-game spot. Two-time defending county champion and No. 4 Arundel (14-6) got past No. 10 South River, 4-1, in 11 innings yesterday to capture the regular-season title at 13-3. Arundel will play Northeast at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joe Cannon Stadium for the county title.

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. Coaches: Chuck Markiewicz, Arundel; Chad McCormick, Old Mill Last meeting: Old Mill won, 47-10, last season KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH Arundel: QB Jack Gordon, Sr. (55-for-74 passing, 1,008 yards, 17 TDs, 1 INT); QB Cooper Hibbs, Sr. (33-for-50 passing, 517 yards, 5 TDs); RB Matt Davis, Sr. (56 carries, 413 yards, 5 TDs; 1 receiving TD); WR Tyler Young, Sr. (26 catches, 393 yards, 5 TDs); WR Dillon Tighe, Sr. (16 catches, 189 yards, 3 TDs)

It was during a scrimmage last year when then-Arundel junior Jack Gordon's football season ended before it could truly begin thanks to a freak foot injury. "I was doing a running play right up the middle, and no one even touched me. But I made a move, and the top of the bone on my right foot just split in half. It just separated," Gordon said of a broken foot that sidelined him for most of the year. "It was tough. It was devastating. But I know that everything happens for a reason.

When Annapolis senior forward Delmore Howard put in a smooth baseline turnaround on the opening possession of Saturday's game at No. 4 Arundel, it was as if the No. 10 Panthers had picked up right where they left off the last time they were on the court - a comfortable win over North County on Feb. 4. Rust from the snow break? Not a chance for the Panthers. Showing no ill effect from the nine days off, the Panthers did Saturday what they have done all season - got up and down the floor, used their team depth and hit big baskets again and again.

At the start of every season, South River girls soccer coach John Sis challenges his senior class to lead the team to a higher standard than the one set the year before. In clinching the Class 4A East region championship Tuesday night with a 3-2 win over Arundel, the No. 2 Seahawks have done just that and now they are looking for more. Senior forward LaRel Rogers scored two goals to help build a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead and senior goalie Lyndse Hokanson made six saves - including a sharp reaction save late in the game - to preserve the region-clinching win in Edgewater.

Senior right-hander John Hodges pitched and batted No. 9 Northeast to a 5-3 upset of No. 4 Arundel to win the Anne Arundel County baseball championship last night at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans. It was first title for the Eagles (17-4) since the county championship began in 1996 in what was their second finals appearance. Northeast ended Arundel's streak of two straight titles. A year ago, Hodges lost, 3-1, to the Wildcats in the county final, and he was determined not to let history repeat itself.

Northeast played for a berth in the county championship game in the last regular-season game for the second year in a row and won again, this time beating Old Mill, 3-2, last night at Harry Lentz Field in Pasadena. Last year, Northeast beat visiting Severna Park to clinch a title-game spot. Two-time defending county champion and No. 4 Arundel (14-6) got past No. 10 South River, 4-1, in 11 innings yesterday to capture the regular-season title at 13-3. Arundel will play Northeast at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joe Cannon Stadium for the county title.

This weekend is the reason every high school football player decided to put on shoulder pads, cleats and a jersey. M&T Bank Stadium will play host to the high school football state finals, and five undefeated area teams have qualified for the biggest games of the year. The Class 3A championship game will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday with No. 5 Hereford (13-0) looking for its fourth state title and first since 2002. The Bulls will take on Damascus (12-1), a team that is no stranger to playoff football either.

Other than striking out the last batter to complete a no-hitter or perfect game, there is no bigger thrill in baseball than hitting a game-winning homer.When it ends the game in extra innings, the rush is indescribable. It's a feeling Chesapeake's Jeff Fraley won't soon forget.Leading off the bottom of the eighth, the left-handed-swinging Fraley lifted a 2-2 pitch from Steve Sylvester over the left-field fence to give No. 7-ranked Chesapeake a 10-9 victory over No. 4 Arundel (18-5) yesterday in the Class 4A East final played in Lake Shore.

For most of last night's game, Seton Keough's No. 1 girls basketball team pushed the pace, using its overall quickness as a key weapon against taller but slower No. 4 Arundel. However, when Asya Bussie, the Gators' 6-foot-3 All-Metro center, got into foul trouble in the third quarter, senior guard B.J. Williams led a switch in gears. "We just wanted to slow the pace of the game down and keep everybody controlled and in sync, just try to run the clock down and get an easy two points," Williams said.

St. Frances guard Shatyra Hawkes knew No. 4 Arundel would have plenty of motivation coming to East Baltimore last night after the Panthers won in Arundel's gym a year ago. "We don't like to lose, so we weren't taking that," Hawkes said. "We're not going to let nobody come in our house and think they can beat us. We beat them in their house, and then we were going to beat them in our house." The No. 2 Panthers did just that in a close call. Hawkes orchestrated the key fourth-quarter run that gave St. Frances the lead for good en route to a 55-52 victory over the Wildcats in what has become an intense crosstown rivalry.