Mike Burke
GLEN BURNIE — Defending Maryland Class 1A state champion Fort Hill has been down this road before, and the Sentinels have every intention of following the same path to the same prize as the Maryland Public Schools Secondary Schools Athletic Association state semifinals will be played today at Bachman Park.
The West Region champion Sentinels (19-1) will take on North Region champion Pikesville (11-7) at 4 p.m. on Field 4 of the Bachman softball complex. The winner of this game will play the winner of the semifinal involving East champion Pocomoke (15-3) and South champion Glenelg (13-6), which will be played at 4 p.m. as well on Field 6 of the Bachman complex. The state championship game will be played Saturday, May 23, at a time to be determined after today’s games, at the University of Maryland’s Robert E. Taylor Stadium.
The Sentinels repeated as West Region champion on Friday with a 5-0 victory over Allegany at Long Field, stretching their winning streak to 18 games, dating back to April 4 in the F Club Classic. Shari Beavers pitched the shutout against the Campers, while catcher Adria Lewis continued to swing the clutch power bat. Beavers finished with 10 strikeouts, allowed three hits and no walks, and Lewis drove in two runs with a first-inning single before lining a home run over the left-field fence in the third inning. Lewis hit a two-strike, game-winning home run to win the final regular-season meeting between Fort Hill and Allegany teams just 10 days earlier.
“I felt pretty good going into today,” said Beavers. “The fact that it was Allegany, our rival, and a trip to the state tournament on the line made sure everybody was ready.”
“I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t go into a pitch trying to think about what I might see,” Lewis said. “I just know I can hit it a long way whenever I do make contact, and that’s all I try to do. Lately, it’s been going pretty good for me.”
“You can never get comfortable against Allegany,” said second-year Fort Hill coach Mike Bittner. “With the bats they have all it would have taken is one swing in the seventh to make it a 5-4 game. When you’re going against Rick Twigg and his coaching staff you can’t afford to relax, or the next thing you know you’re losing. I have all the respect in the world for them.”
Fort Hill will be making its fifth appearance in the state tournament. Prior to winning the state title last year, the Sentinels were a finalist in 2004 and a semifinalist in 2002 and 2006. This marks the first state-tournament appearance for Pikesville.
Meanwhile, Pocomoke will be making its fifth state-tournament appearance as well, but first since 1992, having never gotten past the semifinals in 1983, 1988 and 1990. Glenelg was a semifinalist in 1998, 2003 and 2004.
Last season in the semifinals at Bachman Park, Fort Hill fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but came back with two big innings to earn a spot in the final with a 7-3 win over Bohemia Manor. Four days later on May 25 in College Park, Beavers went 3-for-3, scored three runs and knocked in another at the plate, and scattered seven hits in a complete-game victory to lead Fort Hill to a 9-4 win over Col. Richardson for the state championship.
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.
