Player's Ankle Injury Doesn't Slow Wilson's Drive to Title Victories

Anna Bernstein's weak right ankle allowed Wilson's softball team another opportunity to show just how much stronger it is than the rest of the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association.

As Bernstein raced around the bases Saturday for an inside-the-park, three-run homer, she stepped awkwardly on home plate and twisted her right ankle. It was the bottom of the second inning of the DCIAA final at Guy Mason Park, and Bernstein was unable to continue.

The Tigers didn't have a replacement, so they played with eight in the field for the final five innings and still prevailed easily, 17-1, over Coolidge to claim their third straight DCIAA title in the opening game of the inaugural Congressional Bank Softball Classic.

The Tigers followed that with a 3-2 win over Georgetown Visitation in the classic final, earning the inaugural title.

While Bernstein sat in the dugout icing her ankle for the rest of the DCIAA final, the senior third baseman said she was satisfied with the end to her varsity career.

"I'm glad I went out on a home run," she said afterward.

Bernstein and the rest of Wilson's senior class will depart having revitalized softball at the school, winning 42 of 47 games the past three seasons and showcasing a perfect mark against DCIAA opponents. Led by Bernstein, Kathleen McLain, Ellen Levine, Susanna Brylawski and Annie Cohen, all of whom played in the same Capitol City Little League, Wilson's senior class arrived with more softball experience than nearly any other DCIAA softball program.

"Most of it was because of this group of girls, getting active and getting girls to come out and play," Wilson co-coach Larry Janski said.

Yet on that senior class's final day in uniform, there wasn't a lot of support on the bench. One player was out of town on a college visit, another was taking an exam, and another was not medically cleared. The Tigers' coaching staff was uncomfortable bringing up any junior varsity players just for the game.

But Wilson's bats combined with McLain's typically terrific pitching made defense a low priority for the Tigers. Wilson scored twice in the first, when Bernstein drove in McLain on a triple and scored on a throwing error. The next inning, Bernstein's three-run homer started a six-run rally, and the game was never in doubt after that.

"Winning the championship three years in a row has put [softball] on the map for the [younger] kids at Wilson," said Brylawski, who is normally Wilson's shortstop but had to play the entire left side of the infield after Bernstein went out.