Wye Mills, MD - Howard Community College's softball team scored 27 total runs in a commanding sweep of the Chesapeake College Skipjacks Wednesday afternoon.
Jensyn Koonce led the way for the Dragons with two home runs, while starting pitchers
Marissa Webb and
Sophia Steele both pitched complete games. The Dragons victories moved Howard to 18-12 on the season and ensured a fifth consecutive playoff berth for the young program. Howard's victories also give the Dragons nine wins in their last ten games and a six-game winning streak, the longest in program history.
Game One: Dragons 17, Skipjacks 5
Howard took game one in dominant fashion, taking a 12-0 lead through the first three innings.
Taylor Pence opened the scoring for the Dragons with a two-run single down the left side to set the tone. In the second,
Sophia Steele slapped a double to the corner to make it 8-0 Dragons. The Skipjacks couldn't find any offensive ground, as
Marissa Webb completely shut them down.
Jensyn Koonce's home run in the third kicked off another round of Howard runs, and
Madison Falby added to the tally with a bases-clearing double to the left corner. Trailing 12-0 after three, the Skipjacks finally got some momentum, adding three runs in the bottom of the inning including a home run. Howard didn't lose any concentration, adding five more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it 17-3. After Chesapeake scored twice in the bottom of the fifth,
Layla Walker sat down the final runner with a nifty pass to first to clinch another Howard blowout win.
Game Two: Dragons 10, Skipjacks 1
Howard continued their dominance in game two, jumping out to a 7-0 lead through the first three innings.
Sophia Steele kept Howard well ahead of the Skipjacks, putting together one of her best performances of the season.
Up 7-0 in the fourth, the Dragons put the game away when Koonce smacked her second home run of the day. A handful of runs later, Howard put the finishing touches on their blowout win when
Katherine Wright caught a foul ball behind the plate to give Howard a run-rule victory. This marked the twelfth run-rule victory of the season for the Dragons.
Up Next: The Dragons face their toughest test yet as they face off against Mercer County Community College on Saturday, April 18 at 12:00 PM.
