Crofton Stars 10-under Tornament Games

The Crofton Stars 10-under went 1-2 in the USSSA Maryland Spring Sparkler at the Carroll County Sports Complex.

They had to play without their usual starting pitchers, which hurt them. Amanda Oyler (illness) and Caroline Mills (back injury) both were out. In addition, starting catcher Katy Conroy – who also is the team’s clean-up hitter – is battling a knee injury that limits what she can do.

But the Stars still did a lot of good things. Emma Ruberg pitcher her first complete game in an open tournament to lead Crofton to a 7-3 victory over the Bayside Blues. The Stars also lost to the Ashburn Shooting Stars, 5-0.

The toughest loss in the tournament came when the Stars couldn’t hold an early six-run lead and watched McClean Magic score seven straight runs for a 9-8 victory. Crofton held an 8-2 lead at one point, but the Magic created some magic thanks to a bunch of late-inning walks.

Still, there were plenty of positives for the Stars in the tournament. Coach Lisa Mills liked how Allison Page and Taylor Conley fared behind the plate since the Stars needed help at catcher.

Conley hadn’t played catcher before in open competition, and she nailed a couple of base runners, something that will help her learn and grown in the position. But everyone learned when watching the Shooting Stars, a very good all-around team.

“I was really proud of how well the girls did against the Shooting Stars,” Mills said. “They had an excellent pitcher, and several girls were able to hit off of her. We just didn’t put our hits together and made some mistakes with our base running.”

The 10-under and 12-under Stars will be playing in this weekend’s USSSA Black-Eyed Susan Tournament. These teams are going to have games at Randazzo Park (Severn) and Fairland (Laurel) at different times.