Maryland 4A Softball
Bruins Handle 'Unfinished Business'
Three runs and a high-five: Broadneck's Adrienne Gebele meets Coach Reese Kiple after her first-inning homer gives the Bruins a 3-0 lead.
(By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
After Emily Tempestilli squeezed the final out on Broadneck's first state softball championship, there was little celebration, except for a few cursory high-fives from All-Met pitcher Kourtney Salvarola to her teammates jogging toward the dugout.
It wasn't until after the second-ranked Bruins shook hands with North Carroll that they celebrated their 5-2 victory in the Maryland 4A final yesterday in the way they deemed most proper. The 13 Bruins encircled home plate, motioned for quiet from the applauding crowd at the University of Maryland, and then simultaneously bellowed a heartfelt "Coach Ware."
Broadneck (20-0) celebrated each of its final three victories this season this way, honoring Jim Ware, their coach of 11 years, who died suddenly last July. Before Ware took over, Broadneck had never had a winning season. In each of the two previous years, the Bruins won 20 games but lost to arch-rival and eventual state champion Chesapeake in the 4A East region final.
"Because the whole season was based off of that theme" of Ware's memory, Salvarola said of the postgame ritual, "and we wanted to make sure all our fans knew we were going to win states for Coach Ware."
This year, they got past Chesapeake and never stopped.
"We had a reason this season," said sophomore catcher Adrienne Gebele, whose first-inning, three-run homer put Broadneck ahead for good. "He was our motivation. He was the one who started it all here, and we had unfinished business for him."
Gebele's homer took care of that business right away, as she lined the first pitch she saw over the left center-field fence. After North Carroll (18-4) responded with two runs in the top of the second, Broadneck added a run apiece in the third and fourth as part of a 10-hit attack.
Broadneck 5 North Carroll 2 Still With Them: Broadneck gave winner's trophies to former coach Jim Ware's two grown children, son Pat and daughter Beth, who also posed with players for photos after the Bruins' victory. Power Center: Broadneck is the sixth Anne Arundel County school to win a softball title since 1998, joining Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, North County, Northeast and Severna Park.
