Ellicott City, MD – A wildly entertaining game saw the Harford Fighting Owls hold off a furious Dragons comeback to take game one 12-10 before game two was called off due to weather conditions making the field unplayable.
Harford got out to a good start as Kaitlyn Delaney hit her first of three home runs on the day to take the early lead. The Dragons stormed back in the bottom of the second when
Sarah Phelps (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) drove in
Samantha Hobert (Elkridge, MD/Howard) with Phelps later scoring on a
Danielle Thompson (Frederick, MD/Tuscarora) line drive to center field to take the lead at 2-1.
The Fighting Owls came roaring back, scoring three runs in the third and eight more in the fourth that were sandwiching a
Grace Tolle (Woodstock, MD/Marriotts Ridge) bomb over the left field fence for her third home run of the year. The Dragons started their comeback in the fifth inning as
Katelyn Burdette (Frederick, MD/Walkersville) started the inning off with a hard hit double down the line.
Brittney Dix (Elkridge, MD/Long Reach) flared a single to right field to score Burdette and later scored alongside Tolle on wild pitches to keep the game alive. The Dragon bats stayed hot in the sixth inning as Tolle singled to score Burdette and Thompson on a wild run-down play followed by an
Erika Goodwin (Laurel, MD/Hammond) RBI single to make it an 11-9 Harford lead.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning by Hobert in the top of the seventh, Phelps started the rally with a walk followed by a
Sage Huber (West Friendship, MD/Glenelg) single. Thompson stung a single through the right side of the infield to score Phelps and put the tying run on base with the winning run at the plate. Controversy ensued as Burdette was hit by the pitch on the elbow, but the home plate umpire ruled her to have leaned into the pitch and the base was not awarded which led to a Burdette strikeout on the next pitch. Tolle came to the plate as the Dragons' last hope and hit a shot to left field that provided a dramatic ending of being caught right at the fence to give Harford the win.
The Dragon defense put up one of their best performances of the year highlighted by a couple of huge
Shayla Love (Columbia,MD/Oakland Mills) catches in right field.
While game two of the double header started, it was called off in the third inning due to increased rain.
The Dragons will prepare for a huge weekend series at Chesapeake College on Saturday, March 26 with the doubleheader slated to start at 12 PM.
