Falcons Softball Heating Up As Stretch Run Arrives

Thus far, the Severna Park softball team has endured an uneven, up-and-down season. But the Falcons closed a nine-game, 19-day stretch with three straight wins, giving themselves some much-needed confidence heading into the final week of the regular season.

Severna Park started the stretch with a 4-0 win over Arundel on April 8 that saw freshman Quinlyn Bary hurl a no-hitter, punching out seven Wildcats in the win. Then it was a 6-1 loss to Chesapeake, followed by an 18-3 win over Glen Burnie. Broadneck got the Falcons 8-1, and then Crofton (3-1) and Northeast (9-2) both followed suit. But wins over Old Mill (8-2), Baltimore City College (18-0) and Annapolis (24-4) had the Falcons at 8-7 entering the last week of April.

Though the Broadneck-Crofton-Northeast gauntlet was Severna Park’s toughest three-game stretch of the season by far, the Falcons know that sequence is going to provide a wealth of experience to build on when the pressure of postseason ramps up in May.

“I’m not worried about the rest of the season. We had Broadneck, Crofton, Northeast, which was the toughest week of the season,” said Severna Park coach Bailey Benedick. “After that, things tapered off a little bit. We’re hoping to take this, get back up and use it as fuel.”

The young Severna Park team, which features five freshmen in the starting lineup, is starting to figure things out. In the circle, Bary eclipsed the 100-strikeout plateau in late April. At the plate, the Falcons put up 50 runs in just three games, including the 24-run effort on senior day.

That, combined with senior leadership from Sally Trent behind the plate helping the young pitching staff of Bary and sophomore Taylor Moran navigate the season, and the stalwart defensive play of other upperclassmen like Katherine Boord and Christina Ballagh, has the team in good spirits.

Still, there is some growth to make, and that sometimes comes with resetting the team as it continues to gain needed experience. That sometimes comes with changing pitchers mid-game not so much for effectiveness reasons but an opportunity to clear the mind.

“It’s a little bit to throw off the batters and it’s a little bit to reset too because (Bary) is a freshman, and freshmen are still figuring it out,” Benedick said. “Our starting lineup has five freshmen, and sometimes you have to sit them down and reset them just because they don’t have the experience. It’s all new to them. Sally does a great job helping (Bary) out and helping get her through it.”