This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Essex Teams Continue to Pound the Opposition

Eastern Tech softball, Kenwood baseball come up with big wins in strong starts to their seasons.

(UPDATED 10:45 p.m.) right-handed pitcher Liz Bondarenko continued her unbeaten streak as well as her team's with Monday night's 13-3 victory over Baltimore County Division I League rival Owings Mills.

Bondarenko, a senior, struck out four batters and yielded no walks against three hits for the Eagles, helping the Mavericks to rise to 5-0 overall, and 1-0 in the division.

Bondarenko rose to 3-0 on the year and has an ERA of 2.00. Mavericks' senior first baseman Carly Wheat had an excellent day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, three runs scored, and playing errorless ball in the field.

Junior catcher Alexis Peay also contributed, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI, and junior second baseman Allison Williams was 2-for-3, with two doubles.

In addition, sophomore centerfielder Lindsay Meyers went 3-for-4, and senior third baseman Michelle Mohr "made some great plays," and was 2-for-3 with a double, Mavericks coach Jack Meyers said.

"The No. 1 goal was to have a strong hitting lineup 1 through 9," said Meyers. "We are getting close."

The Mavericks' next three games are against Parkville, Kenwood and Edgewood, respectively, on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Bluebirds Out-Slug Raiders

Kenwood's baseball team won Monday's all-out, classic slugfest, 15-13, over host Loch Raven, highlighted by its overcoming a second-inning 8-2 deficit.

Aaron Brezinski ’s two-out, seventh-inning single was the game-winner for the Bluebirds, who rose to 5-2 on the year, and 2-0 in Baltimore County's Division I during a victory in which seven of their runs were scored when there were already two outs against them.

With the game-tying runs on in the bottom of the seventh, relief pitcher Brandon Hovel got the next batter to line into a double-play.

Gene McGeeney doubled in the first two runs for the Bluebirds, who trailed by six runs entering the third inning. Anthony Pelekakis then sparked the comeback with a two-run home run that was followed by Justin Kitko's sacrifice fly ball.

The Bluebirds brought in three more runs in the fourth on a hit and five walks, followed by McGeeney's fifth-inning three-run double and Shane Campbell's sixth-inning two-run single.

The Bluebirds, who pounded out 13 hits and were walked 12 times, visit Perry Hall on Tuesday followed by consecutive home games on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, against Chesapeake and Eastern Tech.

Kenwood Softball Hanging Tough Early

Despite the fact that its roster features only one senior, Kenwood is 5-3 under fifth-year coach, Jackie Davis.

Find out what's happening in Essex-Middle Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Among the team's statistical leaders are infielders Alyssa Williams and Faith Ledford, a junior and sophomore, respectively.

Williams .556 batting average leads the Bluebirds, as does her three home runs. Williams is also tied with two others with a team-high seven RBIs, ranks second with 11 runs scored and has two doubles and six stolen bases.

Ledford ranks first in two categories - steals (18) and runs (12). Ledford is hitting .368 with an RBI and a double.

Sophomore infielder Amanda Hensler ranks second with a .555 batting average, is tied for first with seven RBIs, ranks second with two home runs and also has scored seven runs, stolen five bases and blasted three doubles.

Among the seniors, the top batter is infielder Lindsay Shipman with a .467 average, along with five steals and five RBIs, a double and a triple.

Senior infielder Beth Anderson ranks third on the team with eight runs scored and is batting .435 with seven steals, seven RBIs and a double.

Junior outfielder Bethany Young bats .417 and ranks second with nine steals to go with double and junior outfielder Kaitlyn Red is tied for third with eight steals and has a .313 batting average.

Senior pitcher Ashley Fallon also contributes at the plate with a .333 average and a double while outfielders Lauren Hagy and Alexis Knotts, a junior and sophomore, respectively, each have batting averages of .250.

Hagy has eight steals, five runs scored and a double, and Knott has six steals.

Kenwood Punter Commits to Lincoln

Find out what's happening in Essex-Middle Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Kenwood senior punter Kyle Jaski has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Division II Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Jaski was among a wave of 12 signees for the Lions' 2011 recruiting class, a group that encompasses six states from Florida to California and which represents the first to sign National Letters of Intent since Lincoln became a full-fledged NCAA Division II member in July.

"This group will have an immediate impact," Lincoln coach O.J. Abanishe said. "We have a good mixture of players with college experience and up-and-coming high school players that can come in and compete for spots right away. They'll add to the talent we already have."

Jaski's powerful leg earned him First-Team All-Division, and, First-Team All-Baltimore County honors as a punter and, kicker, respectively.

Jaski was named to Maryland's All-State Team as a punter, as well as to The Baltimore Touchdown Club's Senior All-Star game as both a punter and kicker.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Essex-Middle River