Huntingtown topples No. 3 Leonardtown in a battle of SMAC softball powers
Mike Johnson has seen plenty iterations of a Huntingtown softball team over his 22-year tenure leading the southern Maryland program. The Hurricanes are perennial contenders, with five state championships in the last two decades. A trip to Bachman Sports Complex for the Maryland state semifinals has become an annual tradition for the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference powerhouse.
Despite the program's winning history, Johnson feels something different about this year's group — something he hasn't felt in years. He heard it in the dugout Wednesday, when senior shortstop Kayla Ripple whipped a ball to first base for a pivotal out against Leonardtown and the Hurricanes erupted into cheers. He saw it in the smiling faces of his players as they circled together in left field after a 2-1 win over the No. 3 Raiders, defending Maryland Class 4A champions.
'This group, they're together,' Johnson said. 'They enjoy being together, they've got each other's back, they're pulling for each other…I haven't seen this in a while, it is a special group.'
The Hurricanes (7-1), one season removed from a 4-2 loss to Rising Sun in the Maryland Class 2A title game, feel like they're closer than ever in their quest to return to College Park to compete for another state title. Maybe it's the collective desire to win that final game for the first time since 2019, Johnson said. Senior Jordyn Greever thinks it might be the bonds they've forged playing softball together over several seasons.
Whatever it is, it's working.
'We're all working together as a team,' Greever said. 'I felt like, in past years we were this little group and this little group, but we're all a team…It's just better when you're a full team and we all get along [and] know how to work together.'
With Huntingtown's one-run win over the Raiders Wednesday, Johnson's group is back atop the SMAC standings and primed for another run. The Hurricanes are undefeated in conference play and have scored double-digit runs in six of their seven wins. Their lone defeat came against No. 8 St. Mary's Ryken last week, 2-0.
Much of that success has come from the arm and bat of Greever, an All-Met honorable mention last season. With Greever in the pitching circle, Huntingtown has ceded just five runs.
Against Leonardtown (7-1), the Hurricanes' toughest conference test yet, Huntingtown needed another strong performance from Greever to pull out a statement win. The senior allowed just three Raiders hits on the afternoon as Johnson's team pulled themselves out of a late hole with a two-run sixth inning.
'This is what state caliber softball is all about, and I think we saw it in a regular season game,' Johnson said. 'This is sweet.'
In the bottom of the sixth inning, after senior Morgan Cranford laid down a deftly placed bunt to reach base, Greever roped a single into center field to tie the game with two outs in the frame. Senior Olivia Kendrick drove in the eventual game-winning run on the next at-bat and the Hurricanes held on despite a 14-strikeout afternoon from Leonardtown senior Claire Radford.
'I feel like the team energy was really good, and even though we had some bad at-bats, we were still able to pick it up,' Ripple said.
Greever collected the final out of the afternoon, flipping a ground ball to first base to clinch the victory. The Hurricanes' celebration was spirited but short. With postseason vengeance on their minds, Greever and her teammates quickly turned their attention to the road ahead.
'We definitely want to go back and win [the state title],' Greever said. 'That [loss] made us a little mad…we want to go get it.'
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