Sports
Crofton 10-U Softball Wins Tournament
Crofton Stars take Rock 'n Rumble competition, edge Tri-State in title game
The Crofton Stars 10-under softball team got their bats out last weekend, and the others in the Rock ‘n Rumble tournament paid the price.
Crofton banged out 49 runs in five games, but it needed just one in the finale. The Stars had to go into extra innings but made some big plays in the eighth to pull out a 1-0 victory over the Tri-State Thunder.
Caroline Mills threw a no-hitter in the win and struck out 17 batters in eight innings, but she needed to get out of trouble in the eighth. Rules allow teams to start extra innings with a runner on second base, and the Thunder used a sacrifice bunt to get the runner to third with one out.
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She then tried to score on a passed ball, but catcher Katy Conroy dove for the loose ball and threw it to Mills covering the plate, and the pitcher made the tag to save a run.
That set up the Stars for the bottom of the eighth. Grace Gretz began the inning at second base because she was the last out of the seventh. Allison Page then single to center to drive in Gretz with the winning run.
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“The success of this tournament was entirely a team effort,” said coach Lisa Mills. “Every single player contributed to our success. It was magical and special and rare.”
There were eight teams in this tournament overall, and the Stars crushed five of them.
They routed the HCYP Patriots, 12-1. Conroy led the way with four RBI. Gretz and Taylor Conley added two apiece.
The Stars also rolled to easy victories over the Bayside Blues (19-0) and Clarksburg Crush (10-0). Caroline Giordano got four RBI in the Blues game, and she added two more – as did Amanda Oyler – in the Crush contest.
Crofton then survived a scare in a 7-6 victory over the Ashburn Shooting Stars. The first two innings saw the Stars jump to a big 7-0 lead. Ashburn chipped away to cut the lead to one, but Crofton hung on.
“After the Carroll County tournament, the coaching staff took a completely different direction with our offensive preparation,” Mills said. “It made a significant difference.”
