Blair Ends Trojans' Post-Season Softball Run

The Gaithersburg softball team played as well as it has all season on Thursday afternoon.

The defense played smart, thinking fast on tough plays and acting faster. Pitcher Julie Hance was in top form, racking up six strikeouts.

But as it so often is when two ball clubs of equal caliber square off, it came down to a couple plays in one inning. And unfortunately for Gaithersburg, the Trojans were not able to make those plays that would have kept them in a game that was tied up until the bottom of the sixth.

Instead, a late throw to third on a double steal attempt and an errant throw into the outfield on another steal attempt allowed Blair to take the lead. Three ground outs later in the seventh were all Blair needed to win 4-2, and advance to the 4A West regional finals.

"You knew, there was going to be one or two plays in the game that were going to win the game or lose the game," Gaithersburg head coach Randy Berger said. "It comes down to execution."

Blair scored first in the second inning, after Hance walked designated hitter Eve Brown and she scored off an extremely well-placed bunt from Katlyn Harmison. Blake Morgan-Gamber drove in Molly Nicholson, who reached on an error, for an unearned run.

Gaithersburg bounced back and tied it up in the third inning when, with two runners on, third baseman Ashley DeCarlo belted out a triple.

They would be Gaithersburg's only runs in the game. Blair pitcher Samantha Schweickhardt was on fire for most of the game, striking out nine, including striking out the side in the fourth inning, and walking only one.

"Sam Schweickhardt pitched a really good game," Blair head coach Louie Hoelman said. "She hit her spots, she threw her change-up well and for the most part she kept the batters off balance."

Schweickhardt's pitching was clutch, frustratingly so at times for Gaithersburg. With runners on second and third in the fifth inning, Schweickhardt struck out DeCarlo to end the inning. Later in the top of the sixth, with catcher Devin O'Neil on second after Kim Smigocki's textbook sacrifice bunt, Schweickhardt struck out the next two batters.

The last time Blair and Gaithersburg played, in which Gaithersburg won 1-0, Schweickhardt also struck out nine Trojan batters. Berger said he emphasized to his players that they needed to be better at the plate and put the ball in play on two strikes to "make something happen."

Blair went on to defeat its rival Sherwood in the regional finals on Friday.