North East

After a close third game, Mount Hebron swept North East (Cecil County) in the best of five series to win its first Class 2A state volleyball championship yesterday at Catonsville Community College.It was the fourth time the Vikings reached the state tournament, and the first time they have reached the finals since 1982. North East has appeared in the tournament ten times and was runner-up for the second straight year.Hebron (17-1) won the first two games fairly easily, 15-3 and 15-5. However, North East (14-4)

I said it a few weeks ago in one of these columns, but handing over the coverage of field hockey to Aegis Sports Editor Randy McRoberts has been a bit weird. Some of the coaches still have me on their e mail contact list, and when I see the game recaps starting to hit my inbox early in the evening, I'll start to write that night's field hockey story in my head, which is my normal routine for all the sports that I cover. Then, it hits me that I'm off the field hockey beat, and that it's boys soccer, golf and boys volleyball that I should be concerned with.

Towson permitted a leadoff triple yesterday in its first appearance in the Class 2A state softball semifinals. That set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, as the Generals lost to North East of Cecil County, 10-2, at Randazzo Park.North East (17-1) exploited the Generals' strengths -- solid defense and pitcher Jessica Owens -- in almost every inning. Owens had led third-seeded Towson (15-3) to Saturday's regional victory with a complete four-hitter, but North East figured out the Generals' ace, banging out 13 hits and scoring runs in each of the first five innings.

The Havre de Grace Warriors improved to 3-1 in softball on the year with a victory Wednesday, topping the visiting Joppatowne Mariners, 21-1. The Aberdeen Eagles won three and the Perryville Panthers lost once in recent girls softball action. The Havre de Grace-Joppatowne game ended after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. Warrior starter Megan Thompson tossed a no-hitter, striking out eight and issuing six walks over five innings of work. Joppatowne's lone run was scored in the second inning on two wild pitches and a passed ball.

Aberdeen volleyball coach Janie Anderson-Robinson warned her team about North East before the Eagles played host to the Cecil County squad Friday."I told the kids when we had a practice Wednesday -- just be prepared to cover everything, block everything, do everything right, or we're gonna get killed." Although the Eagles (1-3) started out strong, they couldn't hold up against last year's Class 2A state runners-up. After a close first game, North East (3-0) had little trouble sweeping the match, 15-13, 15-5, 15-4.

North East of Cecil County last night became the first team this season to go right at Milford Mill. The problem for North East was the Millers came right back.Blanchard Hurd scored 32 points, and Kenny Bostic added 21 along with 10 assists as top-seeded and sixth-ranked Milford Mill overcame a slow start to post an 84-65 victory over fifth-seeded North East in a Class 1A North Region semifinal last night at Owings Mills.Milford Mill (20-0) meets Sparrows Point tonight at 7 at Owings Mills -- where Milford Mill is playing this weekend because of a leaky roof in its school gymnasium.

Both coaches took a playoff-tuneup approach to yesterday's Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference baseball championship game at Harford Community College's Thomas Run Park, and North East of Cecil County came out the winner. The Indians, the Chesapeake Divison Champion, used three pitchers to defeat Susquehanna Division Champion Harford Tech, 6-1, to take the UCBAC title in a game that lacked intensity on both sides. It was the third straight win by the Indians (16-3) over the Cobras (12-6)

Mount Hebron High School romped to its first state volleyball championship Saturday with a business-like thrashing of North East, a perennial power unaccustomed to belittling defeats.North East's seventh trip to the state finals did not end on a lucky note as Mount Hebron -- making only its second state final appearance -- rode the strong play of senior co-captain Melissa Murdza on the way to a 15-3, 15-6, 15-12 win.Murdza, the smallest Viking player at 5-feet-2, had a big impact on the Mount Hebron set-up offense and served home match point to squelch a North East comeback in the final game.

North Carroll surrendered just four pins and two major decisions in overwhelming visiting North East, 54-18, and North Harford, 56-14, in a tri-meet at Hampstead last night. North Harford defeated North East in the third pairing, 48-21.The wins boosted North Carroll to 3-1 in dual meets. North Harford, a winner over Kennard-Dale earlier, is 2-1, and North East, normally a strong team from Cecil County, 0-3. The Indians, who have been hit hard by injuries and illness, forfeited four weight classes.

NORTH EAST - A young, undersized Oakland Mills team was hoping its season wouldn't end this way. But there was no doubt that North East of Cecil County was the better team in the Class 1A state quarterfinals last night. The Indians' huge offensive and defensive lines, averaging 260 pounds, dominated Oakland Mills, helping North East to a 39-0 victory. "They physically overwhelmed us," Oakland Mills coach Ken Hovet said. "We couldn't move either of their big tackles. They played a 6-2 defense forcing us to throw."

The weekend of Feb. 17 and 18, drama students from around the region participated in the fifth annual North East Theatre Festival at Bel Air High School. The students and their teachers joined theater professionals and college professors for various workshops, competitions and performances for each other. Participating schools included: Aberdeen High School, Bel Air High School, C. Milton Wright High School, Clarksburg High School, Edgewood High School, Harford Technical High School, John Carroll School, North Caroline High School, North Harford High School, Old Mill High School, Patterson Mill High School and Towson High School.

Maryland State Police are searching for four people suspected of stealing a lawn tractor from a new Lowe's store in Cecil County, and then crashing a get-away pickup truck as they sped away, killing one of the suspects who was riding in the back of the vehicle. David L. Rowland, 35, of Elkton, was pronounced dead at Christiana Hospital. Authorities that Rowland and four others on Monday managed to load a John Deere tractor onto the back of the pickup truck, using a pallets as a ramp.

Austin Girls' Choir's tour ensemble, directed by a former Havre de Grace resident, will be in North East on Wednesday, June 22, to sing a free concert at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church at 315 S. Main St. Twenty-one girls age 10 to 18 will present a program ranging from choreographed swing tunes to light classical works. Much of their repertoire is in four- to six-part harmony, and is considered difficult by adult standards. The choir draws girls from Austin, Texas, and its surrounding communities.

Bobby Ruse threw a one-hitter and struck out 14 to lead No. 1 C. Milton Wright over North East, 7-0, in the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship game at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen on Monday. The Indians' only hit came with one out in the bottom of the seventh, when Bobby Dietz hit a single between third and short. "It felt great," Ruse said. "I had a lot of command with my fastball, my defense was great all day behind me and my catcher called a great game.

For No. 5 Arundel's final regular-season game, the Wildcats faced perhaps the toughest team they've seen all season in Riverdale Baptist, The Washington Post's No. 1 girls basketball team. The Wildcats (18-4) were within seven points early in the fourth quarter last night before the Crusaders (22-2) pulled away for a 65-46 victory at Arundel. Sisters Tianna and Tierra Hawkins proved too tough an inside combination for the Wildcats as 6-foot-3 Tianna had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and 6-foot-1 Tierra had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Dean Earl Yolton, a plumbing estimator who coached Little League teams and was active in the Boy Scouts, died of a heart attack Saturday at Union Hospital in Elkton. The North East resident was 50. Mr. Yolton was born in West Chester, Pa., and raised in Concord Township, Pa. After graduating from Garnet Valley High School in Concord Township in 1975, he worked as a welder for 16 years. He later went to work as a plumbing estimator for a Wilmington, Del., plumbing company, and for the past five years, was an estimator for J.F. Fischer Inc., a Baltimore mechanical contracting firm.

Howard coach Pat Becker said she and her team might have been a little too tense in recent games, and she didn't want that to happen in yesterday's Class 2A state semifinal against North East at Goucher College."

It was the way they lost that bothered Wilde Lake's Katie Troutman."I don't think we played with the same intensity that got us here," she said.Wilde Lake's field hockey team won three playoff games to reach yesterday's class 2A state semifinal game against North East of Cecil County.Three straight victories after a winless regular season.NB Yesterday, the magical playoff tour ended as North East scoredin the first two minutes and went on to a 3-0 victory at Goucher College. North East will play Bethesday-Chevy Chase Saturday for the title.

There's more than one way to measure the effect one player can have on a team. The obvious one is to keep an eye on the bottom line, specifically the wins, the losses and the championships. In that vein, Hammond pitcher Stephanie Speierman has demonstrated her value to the Golden Bears, practically carrying her team to the Class 2A state softball title with one of the most brilliant seasons around these parts in any sport. For first-year Hammond coach Richard Pond, Speierman's gift may be in the buzz she creates for the program, the interest and attention she spurs for those who want to see her pitch, and the desire she sparks in younger players to be like her. Already, Pond said, kids are approaching him in the grocery store checkout line, and parents are asking him what summer program they should get their girls involved in so they can pitch like Speierman.

COLLEGE PARK -- As the last North East batter stepped to the plate in the seventh inning of yesterday's Class 2A state softball championship, the Hammond cheering section stood up as one and applauded. They were all well aware and appreciative of what they were watching -- perfection. Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Speierman wasn't about to disappoint, throwing the final three strikes to complete the task: a perfect game for a 4-0 win over the Indians from Cecil County that not only gave the No. 5 Golden Bears (24-1)