Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford softball team split its final home games of the season as it fell to Frederick, 10-8, in game one and bested the Cougars (10-13, 6-10 MDJUCO), 8-6 in game two on sophomore day at Harford Softball Field on Friday.
Freshman Sarah Cooley (6-10) (Clermont, Fla./Bel Air) led the Fighting Owls (11-23, 9-9 MDJUCO) on the day, going 4-for-7 with two runs scored, two doubles, a home run and four RBI, but also took the game one loss after giving up 10 runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and striking out two in seven innings.
Sophomore Katie Irwin (4-13) (Edgewood, Md./Harford Tech) earned the day's win, giving up six runs on nine hits in seven innings of work.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first of game one as Erin Nickell tallied an RBI double to score leadoff hitter Justine Monroe, but the Owls would add three of their own in the second with an RBI single from freshman Sarah Morrill (Smyrna, Tenn./C. Milton Wright) and two Frederick errors to take a 3-1 lead after one inning.
Harford would tack on another three runs in the third which was started by a one-out double from sophomore Jourdan Harmon (Baltimore, Md./Catholic). Sophomore Cherish Deaver (Fallston, Md./Fallston) would follow with a double of her own and Morrill would bring both in to score with a triple to deep right field before Cooley added an RBI double to give the Owls a 6-1 lead after three.
Frederick would cut the lead to four in the fourth with an RBI single through the right side by Danielle Naille and would take back the lead, 10-6, with a eight-run fifth inning thanks to an Owl error, a three-run, bases-clearing double by Jamie Holdon, RBI single from Naille, two-run triple by Brittany Sabol, and an RBI single from Ashlei Thomas as the Cougars batted around the order.
Harford would battle back to within two runs, by adding two in the bottom of the fifth off a groundout RBI from Cooley and an RBI single from sophomore Cara Testerman (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) but couldn't overcome the eight-run fifth as they fell, 10-8.
Game two saw the Owls control the game early, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to RBI singles from sophomores Jessica Stumpf (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) and Lauren Springel (Rising Sun, Md./Rising Sun).
The two teams would battle back and forth for the next inning a half, each scoring one run in their respective chances at the plate before Harford took what seemed to be a commanding, 6-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth off a two-run RBI double from sophomore Jocelyn Kelly (Fallston, Md./Fallston) and an RBI single by Testerman.
The Cougars would knot things up in the sixth, however, thanks to a two-out, grand slam by Nickell, only to have Harmon and Cooley notch back-to-back , two-out solo homers in the sixth as Harford claimed the 8-6 win.
The Fighting Owls would return to competition on Sunday when they wrapped-up regular season play with a doubleheader at Allegany.
