Centennial

Glenelg held off a furious Centennial rush in the fifth and deciding game and defeated the No. 1 Eagles, 10-15, 15-1, 3-15, 15-5, 15-11, in a Howard County volleyball match yesterday at Glenelg.

Despite finishing behind Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg in the regular-season standings in the Centennial Conference, Washington College earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament over the Diplomats and Bullets. The decision did not shock coach Jeff Shirk. “I had the mindset that because Dickinson won [the conference tournament], [the selection committee was] going to take two teams from the Centennial, and I thought they would take us over F&M,” Shirk said Monday morning, referring to South region rankings putting the Shoremen at No. 6 over Franklin & Marshall at No. 9 and Gettysburg at No. 10. “Just based on some of the criteria, I just felt that we were going to be ahead of Gettysburg and F&M even though we lost the head-to-head games this year.” Washington College (12-4)

By winning the 126-pound state championship in Class 4A-3A on Saturday, Kraisser became only the fifth wrestler to win four individual titles over a career. The senior went 36-3 this season to finish with a 152-6 record. His coach, Dave Roogow, says Kraisser "doesn't really feel the pressure because he really does treat every match like his opponent is in the state finals. " Through four years Kraisser has won every match in the state tournament by major decision, technical fall or pin. He carries a 3.5 GPA and has signed to wrestle at North Carolina.

Pimlico Race Course Too Clever by Half wins fifth consecutive race Too Clever by Half won for the fifth consecutive time, taking the $52,000 feature at Pimlico Race Course . The 5-year-old mare was one of three turf winners on the card for jockey Sheldon Russell . Too Clever by Half dueled with Nistletoe for the lead in the five-furlong test on the grass and then opened up a clear lead in midstretch and dug under strong handling to...

Western's basketball team was just a little too quick for Centennial in Thursday night's state Class 3A girls basketball semifinal. The No. 7 Doves pressed their way to a 40-35 victory at UMBC's RAC Arena after the No. 15 Eagles clawed back from a 12-0 opening deficit. "We wanted to play an up-tempo style of game and see if they could" handle the press, Doves coach Tiffany Silver said. "Once we realized they had a little trouble with it, we wanted to stay with it." The press forced many of Centennial's 38 turnovers and that, combined with the early deficit, proved too much for the Eagles (17-6)

Howard softball pitcher Samantha O'Connor faced only 15 batters because of the mercy rule, but she was perfect as the visiting Lions beat Centennial on Wednesday, 15-0. O'Connor had six strikeouts and Julianna Natoli was a home run short of the cycle. No. 2 Glen Burnie 12, Old Mill 2: Melanie Slowinski (2-for-3) had a triple, a home run and three RBIs to power the host Gophers (4-0) past the Patriots. No. 6 C. Milton Wright 8, Perryville 2: Kayleigh Allender had a two-run homer and Jessica Canami went 4-for-4 to lead the Mustangs (3-1)

vTC

Centennial's tennis dynasty rolls on and on.The Eagles (13-0), who clinched a tie for their eighth county title in 11 seasons by beating Howard on Monday, won the title outright by defeating Mount Hebron, 8-1, yesterday.Earlier this season on its home court, Mount Hebron (9-3) narrowly missed upsetting Centennial, losing 5-4. The deciding match had been tied 6-6.But yesterday's contest was not expected to be close because the home-court coach sets the lineups and Centennial coach Bill Shook is adept at attacking an opposing team's weaknesses.

One day after suffering a walk-off loss against Howard, Centennial's softball team got itself back on the winning track. The Eagles pounded out 20 hits and scored 18 times, cruising to an 18-4 victory on the road over Wilde Lake Friday afternoon. Centennial put at least three runs on the board in each of the first three innings to put the heartbreaking defeat from less than 24 hours earlier in the rear-view mirror. “Today was a really big game to win, to come back from yesterday when we were right there and lost it on a home run,” said senior second baseman Donna Coburn.

Matt Noon of Oakland Mills pitched a three-hitter as the Scorpions broke a 10-game losing streak by upsetting Centennial yesterday, 5-3.Noon also went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.Oakland Mills (3-12) had nine hits, including two apiece by Adam Seidman and Eamon Gallagher, against Centennial right-hander Brent Mertes.Centennial (9-6, 8-4) still is battling for a Class 3A, Region III playoff spot with three games left. The Eagles play at Frederick today.

One day after suffering a walk-off loss against Howard, Centennial's softball team got itself back on the winning track. The Eagles pounded out 20 hits and scored 18 times, cruising to an 18-4 victory on the road over Wilde Lake Friday afternoon. Centennial put at least three runs on the board in each of the first three innings to put the heartbreaking defeat from less than 24 hours earlier in the rear-view mirror. “Today was a really big game to win, to come back from yesterday when we were right there and lost it on a home run,” said senior second baseman Donna Coburn.

When No. 10 Washington College and No. 2 Dickinson meet in Wednesday night's Centennial Conference tournament semifinal, it will be a rematch of the April 13 regular-season meeting in which the Shoremen suffered a 15-10 setback in Chestertown. If Washington (12-3) harbors any hope of pulling off the upset and tagging the Red Devils (15-0) with their first loss of the season, the Shoremen must avoid surrendering runs that plagued them in the first contest. Dickinson scored all five goals of the second quarter to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 advantage, embarked on a 4-0 spurt in a span of 1 minute, 46 seconds of the third period to take a 12-6 lead, and then scored three unanswered goals in 2:03 of the fourth quarter to assume a 15-9 advantage.

Wednesday night's Centennial Conference tournament semifinal against No. 2 Dickinson would normally be an unenviable task for any opponent. But coach Jeff Shirk said his No. 10 Washington College squad (12-3) is eager for a rematch of a 15-10 loss to the Red Devils (15-0) on April 13. “I think our guys are excited,” Shirk said Tuesday morning. “There have been a couple bumps in the road that everybody knows about, and the fact that we're actually in the tournament has guys excited.

No. 10 Washington College took the uncertainty out of its postseason plans by walloping Swarthmore, 16-5, Wednesday night and clinching a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament. The same cannot be said for the team's opponent in the tournament. How No. 19 Gettysburg fares against McDaniel on Saturday will determine whether the Shoremen (12-3 overall and 5-3 in the league) get the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. If the Green Terror (5-10, 2-5) upset the Bullets (8-6, 4-3), Washington would earn the third seed and meet Franklin & Marshall (10-4, 6-1)

I showed up at the door of a Greenway home I've admired for years. Charles B. Reeves — who goes by "Sprat" — greeted me with his enthusiastic welcome: "Delighted. " For the next 90 minutes I tried to take notes about his version of the history of North Baltimore's Guilford. "I was born in 1923. Huzzah!" said the neighborhood patriarch. I posed a few questions about Guilford's centennial, an event that is being celebrated Sunday with a house and garden tour. Who else but this retired Venable attorney, fox hunter and Austrian skier could tell me where the bodies were buried?

Wednesday night's road contest against Centennial Conference foe Swarthmore is no longer an ordinary game for Washington College, which needs the victory to clinch a berth in the conference tournament. A win over the Garnet would give the No. 10 Shoremen (11-3 overall and 4-3 in the league) at least the No. 4 seed in the Centennial Conference tournament. If No. 19 Gettysburg (8-5, 4-2) was to lose to Franklin & Marshall (9-4, 5-1) and McDaniel (5-10, 2-5), Washington would move up to the No. 3 seed.

Jane Williams had a goal and two assists as No. 6 Centennial (1-2) scored five goals in the first half and cruised past visiting Westminster, 7-1, in soccer action.Stacie Tokasz and Natalie Hoover each a goal and an assist for Centennial (1-2).Wilde Lake 6, Liberty 3: Leilani Ho scored four goals as No. 15 Wilde Lake defeated host Liberty.Old Mill 5, South River 0: Carina Sonberg scored two goals to lift No. 13 Old Mill (2-1-1) over visiting South River.Field hockeyCentennial 6, Glenelg Country 0: Connie Garrant scored three goals to help No. 9 Centennial (1-2)

No. 12 Washington College's 7-6 come-from-behind win against No. 5 and reigning national champion Salisbury on Wednesday night may prove to be a psychological lift for a program that had dropped 12 straight contests to the Sea Gulls. Perhaps more immediately, the victory might propel to the Shoremen (11-2) to their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament regardless of how they fare in the Centennial Conference tournament. With a 4-2 record in the league, Washington is currently third behind conference leaders Dickinson (12-0 overall and 5-0 in the Centennial)

Washington College's 15-10 setback to Dickinson last Saturday was a double whammy of sorts. Not only were the Shoremen unable to avenge last year's loss to the Red Devils in the Centennial Conference tournament, but they also found out that they are likely frozen out of the top two seeds in the upcoming league tournament. With a 4-2 record in the Centennial, Washington (10-2) fell two games behind Dickinson (12-0) and Franklin & Marshall (9-3), which share identical 5-0 league records.