Northern softball upends Thomas Stone

One day after falling to Washington Catholic Athletic Conference power Bishop O’Connell in its season opener, the Northern High School softball team rebounded in a big way by upending Southern Maryland Athletic Conference foe Thomas Stone 26-2 on an overcast, chilly Friday afternoon.

Northern (1-1) opted to play a number of its reserves last Friday in the lopsided affair against Stone, with junior pitcher Miranda Twigg taking the ball in the circle. The Patriots gave Twigg ample run support early, getting 10 runs in the first and nine more in the second and later the junior came within one strike of a five-inning no-hitter.

Northern had padded its lead by plating five more runs in the third and two more in the fourth then Twigg went to the circle in the top of the fifth three outs from a shutout and potential no-hitter. But with two outs she walked Bree Hooker and Alissa Bovay and both runners advanced on a Twigg wild pitch. Sanay Sanderson then ended Twigg’s bid for both a no-hitter and shutout when she reached on a bunt single that enabled Hooker to score then a throwing error by catcher Izzie Helwig allowed Bovay to score the second run.

“It was tough going out there some innings,” said Twigg, who allowed two runs, one earned, on one hit while fanning 11 Cougars. “I’m used to the innings going by quick, but some of our innings took a long time and my arm stiffened a couple of times. I thought my fastball and my change up were good. My screwball not so much.”

While several regulars sat on Friday, Northern junior Delaney Macaulay made the most of her playing time at shortstop by collecting four hits while driving in seven runs. Granted, Macaulay and her teammates had only moderate success in the 12-2 loss to O’Connell, but on Friday they rebounded in a big way against Stone in the season opener for the Cougars.

“The pitching was a lot faster [against O’Connell] so you had to adjust,” said Macaulay, who also plays travel softball for the Southern Maryland Thunder. “The pitching was slower today so you had to stay back and be patient. I thought I made good contact today. Our goals are the same we want to win SMAC, regionals and states.”