Calvert Softball Defeats Northern in Softball SMAC Championship

On Tuesday May 10, Calvert High School Softball traveled to Northern High School to compete in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) Championship game. After six and a half long innings, Calvert ended the game in the top of the seventh, winning 3-2.  

This is the first time Calvert softball has defeated Northern since 2007. “The biggest thing that has changed is the style of the game,” said coach Lauren Robison. “There are so many moving parts these days.” 

Calvert arrived at Northern ready to take back the game that they had previously lost to Northern in the regular season, falling 3-4 in extra innings. Since then, they have been spending time at practice working on many different skills and situations to improve their strategy and performance as they moved towards the playoffs. 

On Tuesday, Calvert was named the home team, due to their better regular season record, as they played on Northern’s home field. Junior  center-fielder Megan Chroniger started the Calvert momentum when catching a would-be home run ball, bringing it back over the fence, and denying Northern their first run. This was a major highlight for Coach Robison 

Junior pitcher, Emma Deboer, held strong not allowing a run to score until the bottom of the fourth inning when Northern’s catcher, senior Sydney Parlett kicked things off with a solo home run.  

Calvert answered the 1-0 score with an RBI from sophomore first baseman Kylie Willis with two outs and two runners on. Senior short-stop Karlee Hughes with a base hit and junior third baseman Lexi Drayer who was intentionally walked, were on base and moved forward, with Hughes tying the game in the bottom of the fourth.  

In the next inning, junior second baseman Grace Atherton, batting ninth in the lineup, with two outs and no runners on was looking to find a pitch to get on base, so the lineup behind her could move her around. With two strikes on her, Atherton delivered a solo homerun over the center-field fence, pushing Calvert to the lead. 

With a 2-1 lead and two outs, Hughes, batting first in the lineup, followed Atherton’s homerun with her own solo homerun to extend the lead to 3-1.  

“[The highlight of the game for me] was definitely Karlee’s homerun. It was just the icing on the cake, and it gave us the momentum we needed,” said Atherton. 

Calvert continued to rally, playing clean infield and shutting down Northern in the following inning.  

In the top of the seventh inning, Northern pushed a run through on a base hit. With bases loaded, pitcher DeBoer caught Northern base runner, senior pitcher Marissa Powell, standing off third base and called her on the look-back rule. 

The look-back rule in softball states that when a ball is in play, it remains a live ball until the pitcher is holding it inside the pitcher’s circle. Once back in the circle and on the mound, all base runners must decide to advance, or go back to the base.  

When Powell did not decide whether to advance or not, the base umpire called her out, ending the game with a Calvert Victory 3-2. 

Even though the game ended on a technical call, it did not dampen the excitement and relief that washed over Calvert as the teams shook hands. Calvert Softball feels proud to take home the SMAC Championship plaque for the first time in so many years.  

“Northern is a really good team,” said Atherton. “I think our win goes to show how hard we all work and how we don’t give up.”