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Perfection
McDonough wins fifth state title, Mitchell ties K's record
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Samantha Kruemmel, left, Jasmine Hairston, Laura Borawski and Janice Spearbeck keep the celebration going after McDonough's state softball title Saturday.
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COLLEGE PARK –– About the only thing that went wrong for McDonough senior pitcher Melanie Mitchell during the Class 2A state championship game Saturday was her ability to control her rosin bag.
The wind played havoc with the bag during the early innings as it blew it across the pitching circle a few times, forcing Mitchell to chase it down and stomp it into the dirt.
Mitchell was able to control the Lansdowne hitters in much the same way as she tied a state record with 19 strikeouts in a game and the Rams cruised to a 4-0 win over the Vikings on Saturday at University of Maryland's Robert E. Taylor Stadium.
It was McDonough's (19-0) fifth state title, and first since a string of four straight from 1995 to 1998.
"It's a really good feeling," said Mitchell, who tied the strikeout record shared by Calvert's Megan Elliott (2003) and Hammond's Stephanie Speierman (2007). "All four years have culminated to this point and it's a really good feeling."
"I feel like I'm on top of the world," said McDonough senior second baseman Jasmine Hairston, who had a clutch at-bat in the second inning. "There's no where else to go. This is states, this is it."
McDonough head coach Julie Snavely added, "We're just smiling ear to ear and happy today."
That was not the case for the Rams at this time last year as McDonough fell 2-1 in the title game to Easton.
"I really think I thought about it at practice every day," Hairston said of the loss to the Warriors, which McDonough vindicated this year with a 1-0 win in the semifinals. "I'm feeling great because we didn't come through last year and then this year [winning], I feel fantastic."
"We just practiced all week," McDonough senior first baseman Laura Borawski said, "and came in here and played our game the way we know how to play."
And much of the game plan lay in Mitchell's rubber-like pitching arm. The University of Virginia-bound senior struck out the first nine batters she faced and 16 of the first 17 hitters.
The first non-strikeout was also Landsdowne's first hit as leadoff hitter Kelli Pease singled down the left-field line to lead off the fourth.
When Pease fouled off the second pitch of the at-bat, it was the first time in 38 pitches that a Viking had made contact.
Mitchell threw 97 pitches, 70 of them for strikes, and needed just three pitches to ring up four hitters.
"You're always trying to get ahead and jam them inside the plate and then work in or work down," Mitchell said of her game plan. "[And] try not to throw too many over the plate and try to make them chase your pitch."
"Melanie day in and day out you can rely on her and she does a tremendous job," Snavely said. "She just goes out there and puts those Ks on the board. Even if they get people on base we know the defense or Melanie is going to bear down and get that third out."
McDonough senior catcher Stacy Tiscione, who will attend the University of Maryland in a few months, added: "I've caught her since we were 7 or 8 [years old], so growing up and being able to catch her in this type of environment is incredible. She's gotten better and better every year."
Snavely said the key to the win was making sure her players enjoyed themselves.
"Playing here on this ball field can be nerve-wracking," Snavely admitted. "We wanted to score early and relax and have some fun today."
And the Rams got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the second inning when they pushed across three.
Samantha Kruemmel led off with a first-pitch single, went to second on Borawski's sacrifice bunt and scored on Jasmine Hairston's clutch at-bat.
Hairston, who faced a no balls and 2 strikes deficit, proceeded to foul off the next seven pitches before slamming a hit off Lansdowne pitcher Maude McCourry and into the outfield to score Kruemmel.
"Hit the ball, just hit the ball," Hairston said when asked her thoughts during the lengthy at-bat. "I just figured that as long as I'm hitting it [and fouling it off], I can't get out. [Driving in the eventual state-winning run] was cool."
"We keep preaching day in and day out, just keep battling and put the ball in play," Snavely said. "She did a tremendous job at that at-bat."
Katelyn Westerfield followed with an RBI groundout and Jazzmyn Hayden sent a run-scoring single up the middle.
"It felt good," Borawski said of the early lead. "It gave Melanie a little bit of relaxation."
McDonough added another run in the fifth. With two outs, Tiscione reached on an error and scored when Mitchell smacked the first pitch she saw from McCourry over the right fielder's head for an RBI double.
"I feel like I could have gotten a little better hold of it," Mitchell said, "but it went farther than I expected so I just kept running."
Mitchell caught Jesse Dore looking in the seventh to set off a wild celebration.
"It's amazing to go out this way as a senior," Borawski said.
And the very first thing Mitchell did when she rang up Dore to complete McDonough's perfect season at 19-0? She collected the rosin bag.
Results
McDonough 4, Landsdowne 0
Landsdowne 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
McDonough 030 010 x – 4 8 1
WP Mitchell, LP McCourry
Extra-base hit: 2B – Mitchell (McD)
Journey to perfection
March 20: McDonough 1, North Point 0
March 23: McDonough 2, La Plata 1
March 25: McDonough 3, Lackey 0
March 30: McDonough 2, Calvert 0
April 1: McDonough 7, Chopticon 0
April 7: McDonough 4, Calvert 0
April 8: McDonough 9, Thomas Stone 0
April 13: McDonough 1, Leonardtown 0
April 17: McDonough 11, Westlake 0
April 18: McDonough 2, Patuxent 0
April 24: McDonough 5, Leonardtown 0
April 27: McDonough 13, Lackey 0
April 29: McDonough 1, Northern 0
May 1: McDonough 1, La Plata 0 (10 innings)
*May 11: McDonough 9, Marriotts Ridge 0
*May 13: McDonough 2, Hammond 0
*May 15: McDonough 6, Gwynn Park 0
!May 19: McDonough 1, Easton 0
!May 23: McDonough 4, Landsdowne 0
*Class 2A South region playoffs
!Class 2A state tournament
