Lansdowne Softball Eyes Return Trip to States

One may think that after losing six starters from a team that made it all the way to the last year, varsity softball may have considered reducing their expectations in 2012.

Well, whomever thought that, thought wrong.  

After consecutive wins over Catonsville, Patapsco and Kenwood this week, the Vikings (9-4) appear to be heating up at just the right time as they gear up for what could be another deep run in the post season. However, even at the beginning of the year, Lansdowne felt a return trip to College Park was well in reach.  

“I told them I wanted them to make the goals this year. They came out from the get go and they said that they wanted to go back to states,” head coach said.

“It was something they wanted to do and they’re determined to do it. As a team they’ve been gelling really well together.”

Although the Vikings lost key players throughout their lineup, the return of senior battery mates Maude McCourry and Sera Stull helped stabilize a young roster that needed time to acclimate itself early on in the season.

On the mound, McCourry—a second team All-Metro selection from a year ago—has done all she can to make it easy on her defense, striking out a total of 113 batters in just 69 innings of work. Over her 11 games started, she’s registered five complete game shutouts.

Behind the plate, Stull is completely in-sync with her hurler when it comes to pitch selection.

“It’s really good because I know what Maude wants to throw and when she wants to throw it,” Stull said. “We can communicate without having to say anything.”  

While she’d love to strike out every hitter, McCourry is starting to feel a little more comfortable when the ball is put in play, understandable given that her sister, right fielder Marlaina McCourry, is the only returning starter in either the infield or outfield.

That’s not to say the Vikings don’t have any varsity experience in the field. Senior third baseman Emily Wolford and the left field platoon of seniors Kelsey Welsh and Sarah Rippin were a part of Lansdowne’s historic season as reserves last year. And, sophomore shortstop Audrey Melcher played a key role in the team’s playoff run after being called up to the varsity late in the season. 

Juniors Katelyn Strumsky (second base) and Channing Long (first base) round out the infield and junior Sierra Romano is filling the big shoes of a departed Kelli Pease in center field.

With the defense steadily improving, the Vikings are focusing on their performance at the plate where they’ve hit a pedestrian .252 as a team this year.

Although they’ve averaged over seven runs of offense per game, the Vikings have been habitual slow starters, letting teams hang around before scoring late.

“We need to be able to hit from the first inning to the last inning,” said Maude McCourry, who, in addition to batting .476, has driven in 24 of the teams 102 total runs.

“We can’t keep having to adjust in the very last inning and then get all our hits and runs in the very last inning. We need to be able to score early.”

Aside from McCourry, the only other Vikings with double digit runs batted in are Marlaina McCourry (14) and Channing Long (11). Long also leads the team with five stolen bases.

Although Lansdowne is certainly working out some small kinks in the field and at the plate, Izdebski has marveled at how well her squad has come together this year, especially given that they are facing a tougher division schedule than in years past.

While last year’s team had the benefit of playing together for virtually all four years, the 2012 Vikings have united on the fly.

“This team has really great chemistry. We all get along,” Maude McCourry said. “There is absolutely no drama as there was last year. I think if we can all come together and really work hard as a team we will be able to get back to states.”