Northwest Softball Comes Up Short Against Region's Top Seed

Sherwood is the softball bully of the 4A West Region.

The Warriors have won four consecutive region championships and entered the 2011 postseason as the No. 1 seed. They went 15-1 during the regular season, with nine of their victories coming in shortened games via the 10-run rule.

One of those lopsided wins was a 12-2, six-inning blowout of Northwest on May 7. Head coach Kevin Corpuz said the Jaguars traveled to Sandy Spring and got caught up in Sherwood's winning mystique, leading to tentativeness and on-field mistakes.

On Monday, the two teams met in the regional quarterfinals at Sherwood High School, leaving the Jaguars to make a choice: Would they stand up to the Warriors, or would they get pushed around again?

Senior catcher Emily Forst, described by Corpuz as "the heart and soul" of the Jaguars, didn't wait for Sherwood to back Northwest into a corner before putting up a fight. Forst, batting leadoff, came right out and threw the first punch --- in the form of a 200-plus foot triple into left-center field. The blast hopped up against the fence and Forst later scored on a groundball from Jenna Brown.

"That was huge," Corpuz said. "You could tell the energy and the buzz it created. As soon as she smacked the ball I'm screaming, 'Get out of here! Get out of here! Get over the fence! Get over the fence!'"

Forst gave Northwest an early lead, but her effort wasn't enough to get a victory. No. 1 Sherwood defeated No. 8 Northwest 8-4 in a game that lasted more than 4 hours due to multiple weather delays. While the loss ended the Jaguars' season, the fact they competed --- Northwest trailed by two entering the bottom of the fourth --- rather than giving in to the Warriors' aura of success left them more content than disappointed.

"The most important thing for us was mentally --- to make sure we were mentally checked in," Corpuz said. "We had a two-hour practice on Friday and we talked for an hour and a half. Coaches, players, we had a big heart-to-heart and put some things out there. It really opened the girls' eyes up about taking the right approach to coming into this game to give ourselves a chance and not get caught up in the intimidation factor of a big opponent who's got some good tradition, who's got some good hardware. ...

"We're OK walking away from this game because that team that we played today, Sherwood, Sherwood beat us. We didn't beat ourselves and we were able to do that because we focused on ourselves and we came together as a group and we came out here and just played ball."

Sherwood (16-1) responded to Northwest's first-inning run with four of its own in the bottom half and two more in the second. Trailing 6-1, Forst led off the top of the third with a double down the third-base line and later came around to score on an RBI groundout by Brown. Two batter later, Cairra Crisostomo delivered a run-scoring single to cut Sherwood's lead to 6-3.

Northwest (10-8) had runners on first and third with two outs in the top of the fourth when the teams had to leave the field and dugout areas for a lengthy weather delay. When the teams returned to action, Stephanie Miller hit a groundball that turned into Sherwood's third error of the inning and a Jaguars run, cutting the Warriors' lead to 6-4.

Sherwood responded with two runs in the bottom half and held on to win. The Warriors will face the winner of No. 4 Walter Johnson and No. 5 Paint Branch in the semifinals.

"Quite frankly," Sherwood head coach Pat Flanagan said, "I really thought when we went into that break, 'Man, if we don't tighten it up, we're going home' because [the Jaguars] play with a lot of heart."

Senior first baseman Paige Callahan said the Jaguars were frustrated by the weather delays.

"We had them on their toes and we didn't want any time for regrouping," she said. "We wanted to go out and play like we know how to play."

Senior left fielder Kassie Nantz said facing Sherwood in the regular season nine days earlier helped Northwest come into the playoff game mentally prepared. A fifth-inning home run by Forst in the earlier meeting brought the Jaguars some confidence.

"I think it helped us fight a little bit harder," Nantz said. "I know everybody on this team wanted to win this game. We wanted this more than anything. I feel like we just got a confidence boost after playing them once. After Emily hit that over-the-fence shot in the first game we knew that we had it in us, we just had to start sooner instead of in the fifth inning."

Forst's shot on Monday got things started in the first inning.

"I think it just showed us that we could do it right off the bat," Forst said, "and it kind of was a domino effect throughout the game."

Crisostomo was another Jaguar who stepped up. The senior finished 2 for 3 with an RBI.

"I know the last time we played Sherwood, and when we played Sherwood in the past, I've always been scared," she said. "My freshman year, I was the leadoff batter and that was my first time playing fastpitch, so I was scared out of my mind. Today, I went up with the mentality [that] I want to be that person who makes the big hits. I want to get on base every single time."

Senior center fielder Erica Chopas said the game was "intense."

"We all had a lot of emotions because it could be our last game," she said. "You want to do your best."

Senior outfielder Anne Harris said the team's assertive attitude and the bonds between players will make for fond memories.

"I will remember the chemistry and how everybody was so cool," she said. "We brought the game to [Sherwood], we didn't just give it to them on a silver platter."

Senior outfielder Sarah Weaver said seniors and underclassmen got along well.

"We all had really great chemistry," she said. "... I think even the newcomers [helped with the chemistry]. It gave us a boost. We all just clicked."

After starting the season 3-5, Northwest came back from spring break and opened the second half of its season with a five-game win streak. The Jaguars won seven of their final 10 games.

Northwest will return five athletes who by the end of the season cracked the starting lineup: freshman third baseman Brown, sophomore shortstop/pitcher Miller, sophomore second baseman/shortstop Taylor Simpson, freshman utility player Jordan Sheppard and freshman pitcher Lily Schenkel. Miller and Schenkel each pitched against Sherwood after combining to no-hit Bethesda-Chevy Chase in the opening round of the playoffs on Thursday.

Seniors Forst, Callahan, Crisostomo, Nantz, Chopas, Weaver and Harris each played their final game for Northwest.

"With this senior group, they have definitely helped us change the culture here at Northwest as far as the competitiveness and the mindset," Corpuz said. "... It's a good core group coming back for us next year. There's no reason why we can't continue experiencing success and taking it deeper next year into the playoffs."