Harford Softball Scores 12 Runs in Seventh, Splits Doubleheader with Ocean

From the HCC sports desk:

TOMS RIVER, N.J.—The Harford softball team was down, 10-7, but scored 12 runs in the seventh inning on the way to a 19-12 win over Ocean on Saturday. The win was the Fighting Owls (1-11) first as they split a doubleheader against the Vikings (1-1) in Toms River, N.J.

Game one saw the teams tied at two runs apiece going into the bottom of the seventh, but Ocean managed an RBI single with two outs to earn the 3-2 win.

Sophomore Jourdan Harmon (Baltimore, Md./Catholic) led Harford on the weekend, going 5-for-7 at the plate with five doubles, four RBI and five runs scored, while also reaching three times on walks.

Sophomore Katie Irwin (1-6) (Edgewood, Md./Harford Tech) pitched a total of 8.2 innings on the weekend, and gave up just five runs (three earned) on nine hits while striking out five. Irwin was tabbed with the hard-luck loss in game one, but entered in relief during game two where she picked up the win after allowing just two runs on three hits in two innings of work.

Melanie Sutter led the Vikings, going 4-for-8 with two runs scored and one RBI on the day, while Allison Bankos (1-0) earned the game one win, giving up two runs on nine hits and fanning three batters in seven innings.

Game one saw Harford take an early lead after sophomore Cherish Deaver (Fallston, Md./Fallston) singled with two outs. Harmon plated Deaver with a double and gave the Owls a 1-0 lead.

The Owls added one more in the third, this time off an RBI double by freshman Sarah Cooley (Clermont, Fla./Bel Air), but the Vikings would knot the score at two in the sixth as Krystal Kmiechick led-off with a single and Starri Stark’s single to center field rolled all the way to the fence, with both runners scoring on the error.

After the Harford lineup was retired in order, Brittany MacNeil reached on a Harford error in the bottom of the seventh and Harford looked to be in good position to send the game to extra innings after two consecutive outs. Kmiechick spoiled those plans, however, with a single that scored MacNeil and gave the Vikings the 3-2 victory.

Game two once again saw Harford start things off early, as Harmon batted in two runs with a double, Cooley tacked on a groundout RBI and sophomore Cara Testerman (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) finished with an RBI single as the Owls took a 4-0 lead in the first.

Ocean answered with four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning off Amy Renken’s RBI double, Sutter’s RBI single, Frank’s RBI single and sacrifice fly from MacNeil and took a one-run lead in the fourth as Renken scored on a Harford error.

The Vikings looked to have the game in hand after taking a 10-4 lead in the fifth thanks to a bases-clearing double by Stark, who then scored on yet another Harford error, and an RBI single by Renken, but the Owls would cut that lead in half during the sixth as freshman Audrey Werneke (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace) scored on a wild pitch, Cooley batted in Harmon with a double and Testerman did the same for Cooley.

After holding Ocean scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, the Harford bats came alive in the seventh to account for 12 runs on 10 hits as the Owls went through their lineup almost two times, with just two batters recording one at-bat.

Ocean would threaten in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs off a single by Ashley DeBlasi with only one out on the board, but Harford would get out of the inning, stranding two runners in the process, on the way to the 19-12 comeback win.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Saturday when they open conference play at Cecil for a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader.

The Automated ScoreBook
Harford at Ocean (Game 1)
Mar 14, 2009 at Toms River, N.J. (OCC)
Harford 2 (0-11)
Player AB R H BI
Stumpf, Jessica lf 4 0 1 0
Werneke, Audrey cf 4 0 1 0
Deaver, Cherish ss 4 1 1 0
Harmon, Jourdan 1b 3 1 2 1
Cooley, Sarah 2b 4 0 1 1
Morrill, Sarah 3b 3 0 2 0
Testerman, Cara c 1 0 1 0
Lehnert, Kathleen dp 3 0 0 0
Bush, Cortney rf 3 0 0 0
Irwin, Katie p 0 0 0 0
Totals…… 29 2 9 2
Ocean 3 (1-0)
Player AB R H BI
Kmiechick, Krystal 2b 4 1 2 1
Stark, Starri lf 3 1 1 0
Sutter, Melanie cf 3 0 2 0
Olsen, Courtney ss 3 0 0 0
DeBlasi, Ashley 3b 3 0 1 0
Bankos, Allison p 3 0 0 0
Meyer, Jillian 1b 1 0 0 0
MacNeil, Brittany 1b 1 1 0 0
Fumosa, Alycyne rf 2 0 0 0
Renken, Amy rf 1 0 0 0
Morgan, Brittany c 3 0 0 0
Totals…… 27 3 6 1
Score by Innings R H E
—————————————–
Harford…………. 101 000 0 – 2 9 3
Ocean…………… 000 002 1 – 3 6 2
—————————————–
Note: 2 outs, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E – Werneke 2(2); Morrill(7); DeBlasi 2. DP – Ocean 2. LOB – Harford 9; Ocean 5. 2B
– Harmon 2(3); Cooley(1); DeBlasi. SB – Werneke(1). CS – Deaver(2).
Harford IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Irwin, Katie L,0-6 6.2 6 3 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 27 28 7 8
Ocean IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Bankos, Allison W,1-0 7.0 9 2 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 29 32 5 10
PB – Testerman(5).
Strikeouts – Deaver; Bush 2; Stark; Olsen; DeBlasi; Fumosa; Morgan. Walks – Harmon;
Testerman 2; Meyer.
Umpires –
Start: 12:00 pm Time: Attendance:
Game: GM11OCC

The Automated ScoreBook
Harford at Ocean (Game 2)
Mar 14, 2009 at Toms River, N.J. (OCC)
Harford 19 (1-11)
Player AB R H BI
Stumpf, Jessica lf 4 2 2 1
Werneke, Audrey cf 6 4 4 2
Deaver, Cherish ss 5 2 3 3
Harmon, Jourdan 1b 4 4 3 3
Morrill, Sarah 3b 6 2 3 2
Cooley, Sarah p/dp 6 2 2 4
Testerman, Cara c 4 1 4 3
Lehnert, Kathleen rf 4 0 0 0
Irwin, Katie p 1 0 0 0
Springel, Lauren 2b/rf 2 2 0 0
Totals…… 42 19 21 18
Ocean 12 (1-1)
Player AB R H BI
Kmiechick, Krystal 3b 5 2 1 0
Renken, Amy rf 5 1 2 2
Sutter, Melanie cf 5 2 2 1
Olsen, Courtney ss 5 1 1 0
DeBlasi, Ashley c 4 1 1 2
Leifer, Deirdre 2b 3 1 1 0
Frank p 4 1 1 1
MacNeil, Brittany 1b 1 1 0 1
Meyer, Jillian ph/1b 2 0 1 0
Stark, Starri lf 4 2 1 3
Totals…… 38 12 11 10
Score by Innings R H E
——————————————–
Harford…………. 400 003 (12) – 19 21 8
Ocean…………… 400 150 2 – 12 11 0
——————————————–
E – Werneke(3); Deaver 5(15); Harmon(1); Morrill(8). LOB – Harford 11; Ocean 11. 2B
– Werneke(2); Deaver 2(4); Harmon 3(6); Cooley 2(3); Testerman(1); Renken; Olsen;
Frank; Stark. SF – MacNeil. SB – Harmon(1). CS – Kmiechick.
Harford IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Cooley, Sarah 5.0 8 10 7 4 2 0 0 0 0 27 32 9 3
Irwin, Katie W,1-5 2.0 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 12 1 5
Ocean IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
Frank L,0-1 7.0 21 19 19 9 10 2 0 0 0 42 51 4 7
WP – Frank 2.
Strikeouts – Werneke 2; Harmon; Morrill 2; Lehnert 3; Irwin; Springel; Olsen;
DeBlasi. Walks – Stumpf 2; Deaver; Harmon 2; Testerman; Springel 3; DeBlasi; Leifer
2; Frank; MacNeil.
Umpires –
Start: Time: Attendance:
Game: GM12OCC