During Thursday night's 8-10 softball state tournament game, Chesapeake City 8-10 softball manager Mike Losten repeatedly asked his players who wanted to step up and make a big play. He found a team full of takers as Chesapeake City captured the state championship with a breathtaking 4-3 seven-inning victory over Berlin at Robert Stethem Memorial Park in Waldorf. After Camille Mattucci's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth tied the game, Alissa Broderdorp scored the title-clinching run on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh to secure a scintillating and suspenseful win.
"It's a big accomplishment," Broderdorp said. "It means we're the best of the best." The first five innings were relatively uneventful and certainly not a harbinger of the wild happenings which occurred over the final two frames. Both squads scored two runs in the sixth inning after having a runner thrown out at the plate. With the score tied 1-1, Berlin's first two batters in the top of the sixth reached on errors, then moved up to second and third on a double steal. Chesapeake City pitcher Payton Losten got the next batter to hit a grounder back to the circle. Losten fielded the ball, then threw home in plenty of time for the out. But the go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch and Berlin made it 3-1 on another wild pitch. That left Chesapeake City three outs from having to face Berlin again later that night in a winner-take-all game. With one out, Leci Cox reached on an error then was ruled safe at second when the Berlin shortstop tried for a force on a ball off the bat of Losten. That brought Kylee Bergman to the plate with the potential tying runs aboard. Bergman bounced a single through the right side of the infield. Mike Losten, the third base coach, sent Cox home but she was thrown out by several feet for the second out of the inning. That's when Mattucci came through the clutchest of hits. Mattucci got the pitch she was hoping for, a belt-high strike, and grounded a two-run single up the middle to keep Chesapeake City alive. "I just tried to hit the ball," Mattucci said. "And I did." She fully grasped the gravity of the situation. "You just tune them out and focus on the pitcher," said Mattucci. Berlin pitcher Emily Smith fanned the next batter to send the game into extra innings. Mike Losten acknowledged he thought about the possibility of having to play another game, but stayed confident in his squad. "My thought was, if we can get to the top of the lineup, we have a great shot to tie this game," the manager said. "I probably made a judgment rush of sending Leci Cox home. They just executed the play perfectly. These are nine and 10 year old girls. You've got the best of the best out here. I had to push it to try to get it into extras and that's what I did. We kept on battling. All I was doing was saying to everybody, 'Who wants to be a hero?' They're all heroes." Thanks to a hit batsman and infield single, Berlin had runners on second and third with just one out in the top of the seventh, Losten wriggled out of the jam by whiffing the next two hitters. Broderdorp led off the bottom of the seventh by coaxing a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Lauren Pressler tried to lay down a bunt, but popped it up. Berlin catcher Ryleigh Smith made a nice play to snag the ball. She then tried to double Broderdorp off first, but the throw sailed high and wide, over the first baseman's head and along the fence down in right field. Broderdorp raced around the bases and Losten waved her home. "I heard Coach Mike sending me home," said Broderdorp. "All I can see is me crossing home plate, and I'm like, 'Okay. Let's do this'." The relay throw to the plate went over Smith's head and Broderdorp slid home with the winning run. "Oh my God!," Broderdorp recalled thinking as she crossed the plate. "We just won the states." Before tallying twice in the sixth, Chesapeake City had not scored since the first inning. With two outs, Bergman ripped a shot down the left field line and sped around the bases for an inside-the-park homer. Berlin tied it with two outs in the top of the third. Bailey Griffin singled sharply to center and came around to score on three wild pitches. It remained a 1-1 game until the sixth. The sixth inning was as contentious as it was dramatic. Payton Losten was injured on the play where Berlin scored its second run of the inning when the baserunner did not slide and inadvertently struck Losten in the face. That led to words being exchanged between a combination of her father, Mike, Berlin coaches, and fans from both sides. Payton Losten recovered from the collision, got the final out of the sixth, then after her team tied it, escaped a big jam in the seventh. "I was angry," she said. "When I'm mostly angry I do my best." "Unbelievable," Mike Losten said. "Emotions got really high in the sixth [inning]. It's my daughter out on the mound. Fans were chirping back and forth. I probably lost my head. I shouldn't have gotten that angry. But I'm just protecting my own. These girls, all year long, I've had them since March, they battled every single hour of the day. These girls put in a lot of time and effort. And if anybody deserves it, it's this Chesapeake City team." Comments are closed.
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