Prep Softball: Third Time's A Charm as Lansdowne Conquers Eastern Tech, Advances to State Semis

In Friday afternoon’s Class 2A North regional finals, Lansdowne gave head coach Jamie Izdebski the most rewarding birthday present she could ask for—her Vikings finally vaulted the hurdle that is Eastern Tech.

After dropping the squad’s two previous meetings this year, Lansdowne jumped out on Mavericks freshman hurler Jordan Cargile early on, put together a near flawless game defensively and rode another strong effort from starter Maude McCourry to a 5-1 victory and a spot in the Class 2A State Semifinals.  

The Vikings also handed Eastern Tech (18-1) its first loss of the year.

“I told them that’s what I wanted for my birthday. I wanted to win this game,” Izdebski said. “They came out and played totally different than we have ever played against Eastern Tech this year and I think it shocked Eastern Tech.” 

After committing six total errors in its Baltimore County Championship loss to the Mavericks 12 days ago, Lansdowne (18-3) wasted no time flashing the leather on Monday.

Ahead 1-0 after a Jesse Dore RBI double, the Vikings set Eastern Tech down in order in the bottom of the second on infield assists from shortstop Audrey Melcher and second baseman Hunter Long—sliding in the hole up the middle to spear a one-hopper—for the first and third outs of the frame. Dore, snagged a line shot off the bat of Lindsay Meyers for the out in between.

“Oh my gosh, the defense was great today,” said McCourry, who allowed just four hits and struck out six over her seven innings pitched. “It felt great. I felt like I could actually be in my game and not nervous pitching because I had the good defense behind me.”

“[They were] a totally different defensive team,” said Eastern Tech head coach Jack Meyers, referring to the team’s last meeting. “They made the plays when we hit the ball.”

Using the momentum from their 1-2-3 bottom of the second, Lansdowne came out clicking to start the top of the third.

With one away, McCourry (2 for 4, 2 runs) and Sera Stull both singled to get the ball rolling. Then, back-to-back base hits up the middle from Marlaina McCourry and Ashlie Smith each plated a run to make the score 3-0.

Stephanie Lohmeyer followed with groundout to second plated Marlaina McCourry for the third run of the inning.

In all, the Vikings roughed up Cargile for 14 hits on the afternoon. The freshman didn’t walk anyone, but she didn’t record any strikeouts either as Lansdowne was intent on going after pitches early on in the count, before Cargile had a chance to put anyone away.

“We tried to do different pitches against the middle of the lineup and they figured it out and we couldn’t figure it out,” Jack Meyers said. “They did well, it’s a good team.”

Lansdowne’s consistent aggressiveness at the plate was no accident.

Following the first inning, the Vikings hitters approached their coach and explained that they were getting quality pitches to drive, on the first or second pitch of the at-bat.

“I said, ‘if it’s a pretty pitch, go for it. Don’t wait, don’t get down in the count. Get up there and attack,’ and they did that,” Izdebski said.

Lansdowne added its fifth run in the top of the fifth when Maude McCourry crushed a triple over the head of Mavericks centerfielder Alexis Peay and came around to score when Stull (3 for 4, 3 singles, RBI, run) knocked a base hit up the middle.

Eastern Tech didn’t record its first hit until there was one away in the fourth, and even then the Vikings’ defense picked it up for their pitcher. Allison Williams drilled a ball that grazed off the glove of Kelli Pease and rolled away in center. However, Pease pegged a laser of a cutoff throw to Hunter Long who then fired a one-hop strike to third where Dore slapped the tag on Williams trying to stretch her double into a triple.

The Mavericks did get on the board in the next inning, when Lauren Channell’s two-out double eluded a diving Marlaina McCourry in right-center and scored Cargile all the way from first to make the score 5-1.

However, Eastern Tech could only muster one base runner in the following two innings—an Ashley Sauerwein single with two away in the bottom of the seventh—and Maude McCourry fanned Channell on a high fastball to end the game.

“I told the kids, it’s not an example of how our season went,” Jack Meyers said following the game. “I just feel sorry for the seniors. It’s their last game and they want to go out on top—these kids are tight. I just told them, hopefully you made life-long friends this season. It’s tough to lose your last game when you win all the rest. We just didn’t have it today.”

Lansdowne will take on the winner from the 2A South Final between McDonough (Charles County) and Glenelg (Howard County) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie.