Team Unity

In search of a team identity, the Baltimore CFLs finally may have found a fitting theme yesterday.Call them the Baltimore brawlers.Then get out of their way.It was Wednesday afternoon at the fights when the CFLs practiced in pads at Kirk Field. Defensive team drills were interrupted three times by fights that spilled domino-like across the field.It was literally the offense against the defense with a lot of pushing, a few body punches, and no blood. In the locker room later, both sides said it was just what they needed.

With a confident "been there, done that" approach, the No. 1 Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team walks onto the field for every game firmly believing it will come out with a victory. Wednesday's game against No. 8 John Carroll was another prime example, as the visiting Cavaliers made good on their opportunities on offense and played their typical seal-tight defense to come away with a 2-0 win over the Patriots. The defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champions improved to 12-0-1 overall and 6-0 in league play, getting two goals from junior forward Maggie Morrison and their 11th shutout of the season.

Westminster coach Suzanne Peters called yesterday's 17-6 victory at Oakland Mills a "confidence-builder" as the Owls head toward next Tuesday's showdown with Liberty. And senior midfielder Kristen Gombeski, who scored four goals, added one assist, and had seven draw controls and seven groundball controls, sounded like someone who is not afraid of facing the Lions, a perennial Carroll County power. "We have a lot of confidence this year," Gombeski said. "Our goal is to win the county title.

Chapelgate senior shortstop Lauren Ahrens, who has batted leadoff since the first game of her freshman year, has made her mark on the program as she enters the final few weeks of her high school career. She is its career leader in batting average (.410), hits (108), RBIs (104), runs scored (126), stolen bases (55), triples (14) and home runs (six). Numbers aside, Ahrens' complete attention is on one thing: Helping the team capture its first Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference championship.

With a confident "been there, done that" approach, the No. 1 Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team walks onto the field for every game firmly believing it will come out with a victory. Wednesday's game against No. 8 John Carroll was another prime example, as the visiting Cavaliers made good on their opportunities on offense and played their typical seal-tight defense to come away with a 2-0 win over the Patriots. The defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champions improved to 12-0-1 overall and 6-0 in league play, getting two goals from junior forward Maggie Morrison and their 11th shutout of the season.

Liberty senior left fielder Kayla Coughlin has rebounded from a disappointing junior season, leading the team with a .474 batting average. The tri-captain played a key role in the Lions' first victory of the season last week, as she had two hits and scored a run in the 6-5 win over Westminster in nine innings. Coughlin is the team's leadoff hitter, has not made an error this season and has played three seasons of summer league softball for the Freedom Firebirds, who were coached by Dick Smith, her Liberty coach.

Chapelgate senior shortstop Lauren Ahrens, who has batted leadoff since the first game of her freshman year, has made her mark on the program as she enters the final few weeks of her high school career. She is its career leader in batting average (.410), hits (108), RBIs (104), runs scored (126), stolen bases (55), triples (14) and home runs (six). Numbers aside, Ahrens' complete attention is on one thing: Helping the team capture its first Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference championship.

Two weeks from tomorrow, Annapolis girls basketball coach Teresa Ross will experience a happy/sad kind of day -- happy because she will be wed and sad because of the girls she will leave behind.Ross will be married in Annapolis on March 27 to Ralph McBarron, a sports promotions director in Kansas, and then depart for a new life in the Midwest. It will be tough to say goodbye to a group of girls she has become very attached to.Ross, a 28-year-old graduate of High Point in Princes George's County and Loyola College in Baltimore, where she played three years of basketball, turned a dreadful girls program at Annapolis into one of the metro area's best in her three years there.

It's a symbol of team unity - a fashion statement, if you will. For the past two weeks, members of the Towson High volleyball team have taken the court wearing one sock up, one sock down. It was fitting attire last night, as the host No. 6 Generals socked it to another opponent in their run through the Class 2A state playoffs, needing just 58 minutes to down No. 9 Catonsville, 15-2, 15-2, 15-10, in the North region semifinals. Towson (17-1) advances to tomorrow's regional final, where it will play host to Owings Mills, a three-game winner over Loch Raven.

The amazing turnaround in Severn's girls lacrosse team began seven weeks ago and 850 miles away.At the time, though, new coach Renie Sotiropoulos feared the team's preseason training trip to Cocoa Beach, Fla., might not have been such a good idea. The Admirals arrived in a driving rainstorm and it kept pouring for two days."We had to do mall walking the first few days," said Sotiropoulos, "but we did get four or five days of double practices in. That helped me get to know them and they got to know me. That was the most valuable part of it."

Liberty senior left fielder Kayla Coughlin has rebounded from a disappointing junior season, leading the team with a .474 batting average. The tri-captain played a key role in the Lions' first victory of the season last week, as she had two hits and scored a run in the 6-5 win over Westminster in nine innings. Coughlin is the team's leadoff hitter, has not made an error this season and has played three seasons of summer league softball for the Freedom Firebirds, who were coached by Dick Smith, her Liberty coach.

There has been much adversity for the close-knit Century Knights girls basketball team, the toughest coming two years ago when junior teammate Gretchen Brandt was killed in a car accident just three days after practice had started for the season. The team still says a prayer, "The Game of Life," to honor the memory of Brandt before each game. "It kind of just brings us together," senior co-captain Maureen Onda said. "We know we're not just playing for ourselves but playing for people that love us. We're playing in honor of her and her memory."

This is where Randall Cunningham's experience comes in. And it has nothing to do with his ability on the field, where Cunningham has played in 159 games in his 16-year career. It is about Cunningham using the professionalism drawn from such a long haul to help defuse a potentially nasty situation off the field. Cunningham is entangled in the most hotly debated topic surrounding the Ravens: whether he should start Sunday's game at Jacksonville instead of struggling quarterback Elvis Grbac.

COLLEGE PARK - Fifth-year senior attackman Mike Morsell eagerly took the practice field with the rest of the Maryland men's lacrosse team last night. Senior defenseman Andy Burman did the same, and talked about winning a national championship for his new coach. What a difference a week has made for newly installed coach Dave Cottle, whose hiring last Wednesday was met with a protest by players, who objected to the school administration's decision and threatened not to play for Cottle. All 45 players reported on time for a scheduled fall workout last night.

Westminster coach Suzanne Peters called yesterday's 17-6 victory at Oakland Mills a "confidence-builder" as the Owls head toward next Tuesday's showdown with Liberty. And senior midfielder Kristen Gombeski, who scored four goals, added one assist, and had seven draw controls and seven groundball controls, sounded like someone who is not afraid of facing the Lions, a perennial Carroll County power. "We have a lot of confidence this year," Gombeski said. "Our goal is to win the county title.

It's a symbol of team unity - a fashion statement, if you will. For the past two weeks, members of the Towson High volleyball team have taken the court wearing one sock up, one sock down. It was fitting attire last night, as the host No. 6 Generals socked it to another opponent in their run through the Class 2A state playoffs, needing just 58 minutes to down No. 9 Catonsville, 15-2, 15-2, 15-10, in the North region semifinals. Towson (17-1) advances to tomorrow's regional final, where it will play host to Owings Mills, a three-game winner over Loch Raven.

I think it's safe to say that our Little League team, the Royals, is enjoying a fine season despite a mysterious phenomenon that seems to be causing the players to try to kill each other.Consider the ugly business that has transpired thus far:Our shortstop, John, accidentally drilled our pitcher, Danny, in the side of the head with the ball. Our first baseman, Sean C., threw a warm-up toss to our catcher, Sean R., who went down as if he'd caught a poisoned dart from a blowgun. (The injury turned out to be considerably less exotic.

There has been much adversity for the close-knit Century Knights girls basketball team, the toughest coming two years ago when junior teammate Gretchen Brandt was killed in a car accident just three days after practice had started for the season. The team still says a prayer, "The Game of Life," to honor the memory of Brandt before each game. "It kind of just brings us together," senior co-captain Maureen Onda said. "We know we're not just playing for ourselves but playing for people that love us. We're playing in honor of her and her memory."

The amazing turnaround in Severn's girls lacrosse team began seven weeks ago and 850 miles away.At the time, though, new coach Renie Sotiropoulos feared the team's preseason training trip to Cocoa Beach, Fla., might not have been such a good idea. The Admirals arrived in a driving rainstorm and it kept pouring for two days."We had to do mall walking the first few days," said Sotiropoulos, "but we did get four or five days of double practices in. That helped me get to know them and they got to know me. That was the most valuable part of it."

In search of a team identity, the Baltimore CFLs finally may have found a fitting theme yesterday.Call them the Baltimore brawlers.Then get out of their way.It was Wednesday afternoon at the fights when the CFLs practiced in pads at Kirk Field. Defensive team drills were interrupted three times by fights that spilled domino-like across the field.It was literally the offense against the defense with a lot of pushing, a few body punches, and no blood. In the locker room later, both sides said it was just what they needed.