Patriots Follow Slow Start With Nine Straight Wins

It didn't make sense when Wootton's softball team began the season 1-3. The Patriots returned all but one player from a team that came on strong last season to win 12 games.

What the Patriots needed was just a bit of confidence, and once they got that, their season took off. Wootton followed that start with a nine-game winning streak, which ended with a 3-2 nine-inning loss last week to No. 9 Damascus, the toughest game the undefeated Hornets have had yet.

"Once we started beating teams like Richard Montgomery and Sherwood, the girls gained some confidence," Wootton Coach Alton Lightsey said.

Perhaps no Patriot has felt better about her abilities than junior pitcher Andi Garnher, a varsity rookie who is "a completely different" from when she played JV last season. Lightsey said Garnher could always throw hard but had trouble locating her pitches. This season, she has struck out 54 batters in 47 innings, while walking 21. She threw all nine innings against Damascus and pitched her way out of a couple jams.

Garnher is getting plenty of help behind her. Senior third baseman Jessica Rinn, a three-year starter, is batting .354, slugging .604 and has scored a team-high 18 runs, while not committing an error. Beside her is junior shortstop Rachel Baron, who leads the Patriots with a .417 batting average, 11 RBI and 11 steals. . . .

After advancing to the Maryland 1A West Region final for the second consecutive year, Poolesville's softball team wondered what it would take for the team to get over the hump and claim its first region title.

Hitting the crud out of the ball this season isn't a bad way to go about it.

The Falcons have hammered opposing pitching to the tune of a .382 batting average, winning 12 of their first 13 games this season, heading into yesterday's scheduled game against Damascus. After suffering its only loss, 7-5 to Paint Branch on April 10, Poolesville won its next five by mercy rule, ending each after the fifth inning by an average margin of 15 runs.

Only one player from last year's team did not return, so the girls know what they're capable of. Seniors Allison Gost and Rachel Stream are leading them well.

Gost is batting .500 and, as one of the Washington area's top catchers, has thrown out nine potential base stealers this season. Last year, she threw out 11 of 12 trying to steal, and Coach Laurie Wohnhas said that this has cut down on the number of attempts this season.

Stream, meanwhile, who handled most of the pitching last season on an emergency basis, is only sharing the workload this season with junior Alexa Brown. That has allowed Stream, who is batting .450 with eight extra-base hits, to return to shortstop, where she completes an already solid infield. Junior second baseman Megan Foy is batting .438, and junior third baseman Jackie Winning is hitting .436.

"It takes a little pressure off Ali and Rachel that these juniors are playing so well," Wohnhas said.