Liberty

Home Turf: 5805 Bartholow Road, Eldersburg Head Coach: Jeff Kent (seventh season) 2011 Record: 4-6 overall, 3-4 county Liberty High continued a recent trend last fall. After losing four of its first five games, the Lions won three of their final five to finish at 4-6. Since 2007, Liberty has posted a 17-8 record in the season's second half. But the Lions haven't been to the playoffs since 2008 because they don't post enough wins in the season's first half.

Anne Arundel County police released hundreds of documents this week regarding media inquiries on topics as broad as gang investigations, cold cases and school shootings, but none of those are any use to the group looking into allegations against County Executive John R. Leopold, ACLU officials said. In response to a public information request made by the American Civil Liberties Union and area newspapers, police provided reams of documents detailing how the police department interacts with the media - but little information about Leopold and an "enemies" list the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland alleges he kept.

Chris Szocik set the tone for his team — play hard to the end — and that resulted in Liberty's winning its first state championship with a 3-2 victory over McDonough in the Class 2A title game. Rebecca Oneto tied the game in the ninth with a single up the middle. Sammy Bost then stole both third and home after the third baseman missed the tag for a walk-off victory. "Our goal was to win the county title, but we knew we had a shot to go farther and we understood that anything can happen on a given day," Szocik said.

The junior pitcher led Liberty (21-2) to its first state softball championship with a 3-2 win over McDonough in Friday's Class 2A final in College Park. Thompson allowed two hits and finished with 11 strikeouts to earn the win. In reaching the title game, she threw a three-hitter in a 6-0 shutout win over Lansdowne in the semifinals, striking out five in the effort. In five playoff wins covering the three West region wins, Thompson had a 1.00 ERA. On the season, she went 16-2 on the mound with a 1.20 ERA and 175 strikeouts and batted .459 at the plate.

The No. 2 Liberty girls repeated as the Class 2A state champions on Saturday, but it wasn't an easy task. The Lions gathered points in an array of events to rally late and win the title at Morgan State. Michelle Keller led the final push that helped Liberty finish with 73.5 points and beat out Largo (62). Last year, Liberty edged out North Hagerstown by 3 1/2 points. This year, Keller finished second in both the high jump and shot put for 16 crucial points to push Liberty ahead.

It was one of the most improbable endings in the history of the state softball tournament. Liberty let several crucial scoring opportunities slip away in the first six innings of Friday's Class 2A state championship against McDonough at Maryland's Robert E. Taylor Stadium. The Lions, however, refused to quit and loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs and trailing by two runs. Rebecca Oneto tied the game with a single up the middle. Sammy Bost then stole third, but slid past the bag. The third baseman missed the tag, allowing Bost to get to her feet, and instead of trying to get back to the bag, she just took off for home, sliding safely for the walk-off 3-2 victory as three McDonough players scrambled around her. The Lions, who were appearing in their first championship game in 29 years, clinched their first-ever softball title.

The Catholic Church, embroiled in a dispute with the Obama administration over new health insurance rules, has chosen Baltimore to kick off a national campaign it says is aimed at promoting religious liberty. Archbishop William E. Lori is scheduled to celebrate mass at the Baltimore Basilica on June 21 to open the "Fortnight for Freedom," a two-week national campaign of special liturgies, prayer services and other events leading up to the Fourth of July. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is the oldest Catholic diocese in the United States.

In both the classroom and running track, Liberty standout Ashley Ross has shown a knack for getting things done in a quick and efficient manner. She maintains a 4.4 GPA and will be graduating a year early to attend the Naval Academy in the fall. She first plans to add to her impressive track resume as she closes out her high school career competing in four events (200 meters, 400, 800 relay, 1600 relay) at this week's Class 2A state track and field championships. The No. 2 Lions are the defending champions.

As Catholic institutions across the country sue the Obama administration over new health insurance rules, Baltimore's new archbishop is scheduled to speak in Washington this week at a conference focusing on "Rising Threats to American Religious Freedom. " Archbishop William E. Lori, who was installed this month as the 16th archbishop of Baltimore, said he would discuss "the roots of our own nation's tradition of respect for religious freedom" — including the roles of Marylanders John Carroll, the first archbishop of Baltimore, and his cousin Charles Carroll, the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.