Carly White's grand slam in the third inning of the Class 1A softball north region title game was a real eye-opener. And White did it with her eyes closed. White's blast gave Perryville a 4-0 lead and the host Panthers went on to an 8-3 triumph over McDonough Friday afternoon. "I think I got all of it," White said. "I closed my eyes and swung and I got lucky. I just knew I had to hit it out there. I just wanted a single and it's an awesome feeling."
Perryville coach Dave Ruark has seen several White wallops. "They had her setup inside," Ruark said. "It's just been big hit after big hit so I can't say I'm surprised. She got ahold of it and I didn't know if she got all of it, initially, so I had the runner [on third] tagging. Once that ball hit the ground it really skidded out a lot further than I thought." The coach also poked fun at White's "speed". "With Carly, you have time to think about what you're going to do," Ruark joked. "I'm like, am I going to wave her. There's one out. I'm like, you know what, let's just do it, because we really hadn't been hot as a team offensively. So when you get a chance to get runs…She leads the team in RBIs, just big hit after big hit, so I can't say I'm surprised she got ahold of one. I'm surely glad. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when we got that cushion." Emily Phillips, who tossed a complete game with 13 strikeouts, said it was crucial the Panthers jumped out on top. "It was very, very, very important," said Phillips. "When the bases were loaded and Carly came up, she knew she had to hit a bomb, and when she did, we were all just so happy she did it." McDonough got on the board with a run in the fifth before Whit'e sacrifice fly in the bottom half made it 5-1. The Rams got back in the game in the sixth, scoring two runs and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate before Phillips got the third out on a grounder to second baseman Jordyn Reese. Perryville tacked in three insurance runs in the home half of the sixth. Nicole DiGiambattista and Phillips each reached on an error and Reese walked to load the bases. A run scored when Amber Keene was safe on another error. Ashley Meekins delivered a sacrifice fly and the third run of the inning scored when Keene took off for second and the Rams threw down to second. Keene stayed alive in a rundown long enough for the run to cross the plate. Up to that point, McDonough had played a strong game highlighted by several nice running grabs in the outfield. "In pregame, [McDonough] was really nervous," said Ruark. "They were throwing it around, but they settled in. Our first run through their lineup, I was thinking six down was pretty much going to be easy pickings all day. Their second and third [times] around they found spots…They were absolutely tougher than I thought." Phillips says she expects her team to continue playing the type of softball that has enabled them to win their first 20 games. "We've played our best all year and we keep riding the wave," Phillips said. It is Perryville's seventh region title – 1999, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2016. The Panthers advanced to one state final (2010) and have never brought home the championship plaque. Ruark is happy to win a region title but knows his team is not content. "Obviously, it feels good," he said. "Beating Bo Manor was such an emotional win that it just seems that was the hurdle that we had to get over. I hate to say it, it's almost like there's a feeling of expectation. I feel like this is something we're destined to do, but it feels amazing, just for the girls. I told them, good teams, they can scrap and claw and maybe find a way when they're not on their 'A game', like we were [against McDonough]. But great teams still can consistently find a way even if we're not playing the way we're used to. We made a lot of errors. That's unlike anything we've done. Emily, every time [McDonough] had runners on second and third, which was several times they had runners in scoring position with two outs, she found a way to bear down and get those big outs. This game could've easily gone the other way if those errors compounded to clutch hits with two outs for them. So, I'm definitely grateful for the win, but I think everybody has a sense of, 'we need to keep this thing going'. I don't think there's a satisfaction there yet. We want to go to the end." Perryville will play Pikesville Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Bachman Park in Anne Arundel County. Pikesville routed Benjamin Franklin 24-6 in that region final. Mardela and Boonsboro will play in the other semifinal. Comments are closed.
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