BOONSBORO, Md. – Boonsboro has its own unique equation to play winning softball.
If it had name, it might be called the “Addie Quotient.”
Basically, the Warriors believe in scoring at least one run before handing the ball to star pitcher Addison Tyler to do the rest.
“Ultimately, one is enough to win a game,” said Tyler.
On Monday, Elizabeth Harrell helped make everything add up for the Warriors.
Harrell laid down a suicide squeeze – that rolled about 10 feet – in the bottom of the fifth inning – allowing Camryn Dillow to charge home with the only run of the game in a 1-0 victory over Smithsburg in the Maryland Class 1A West II semifinals.
And, as advertised, Tyler took care of the rest in a one-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts.
“I won’t lie. I was a little scared,” Harrell said. “I was like, ‘I hope that didn’t pop up.’ I saw it a little bit in the air and I was like, ‘whoa.’”
After doing her part, Harrell knew what was next.
“Addie’s very dominant. She’s a great pitcher,” she said.
True to form, Tyler mowed down the Leopards, who gave a gallant try, but couldn’t do much offensively. Smithsburg managed one hit – a two-out single in the first inning by Olivia Kocevar, that squirted just behind the pitching rubber.
It was one of just two baserunners Smithsburg had in the game.
With the victory, top-seeded Boonsboro will host Catoctin in the West II final on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. The winner advances to the state quarterfinals.
The entire game was a pitching duel between Tyler and Smithsburg pitcher Kimberly Herbert. Each pitcher mowed through the opposing batting order through the first three innings.
Herbert retired all nine Warriors in order, while Tyler set down eight of the first nine – all by strikeouts – with Kocevar’s single as the only blemish. Smithsburg’s only other runner was Herbert, who reached on a fourth-inning fielding error.
‘All my pitches were working, honestly,” Tyler said. “I was able to execute my pitches in the spots, being able to mix speeds, which was really working a lot.
“You never know. One player, one hit can change the game You never know. (After the run, I was) kind of just focusing on my spin and spots and making sure I don’t let up anything.”
Tyler’s track record is proven, as both the pitcher and the Warriors are undefeated this season. Boonsboro is 18-0 with 16 wins coming by shutout, with Tyler, who has verbally committed to play Division I softball at Bellarmine University, winning 13 of the 18 games, while allowing three runs all season.
It was more of the same against the Leopards, who put only six balls in play.
Boonsboro finally had a runner reach base with Mylee Hartman’s bunt to lead off the fourth, but she was left stranded on third.
Dillow ignited the Warriors by staring the fifth with the biggest hit of the game, a double to the fence in center field. Makenzie Cullen followed with a sacrifice bunt to get Dillow to third.
Then, it came down to Harrell. She popped the short bunt that forced Smithsburg’s defense to grab and unload the ball to catcher Kocevar at the plate. Dillow beat the throw and the attempted tag for the lead.
“I just had to trust Coach (AJ Frazee),” Harrell said. “I knew who was on third and I know Cam is the fastest on the team. She’s going to get home if I get that down, so I just got it down.
“It was very stressful. We definitely didn’t come with our best today, but in the end, we pulled through and just remembered that ‘there’s no ‘I’ in team.’”
Tyler took over and retired the last 10 Leopards she faced, including the final six after the run was scored. Three of the six were by strikeouts.
“It was a little stressfulness, because it was the first game of playoffs,” Tyler said. “But ultimately, I have faith in my team to score runs when they’re needed. So that (run) kind of took a little bit of the edge off.”
Hartman led Boonsboro with two bunt singles and used her running skills to move around to third base where she was stranded both times.
Herbert was equally effective as Smithsburg’s pitcher, allowing the one run on three hits – only one leaving the infield – with no walks and five strikeouts. Defense kept the Leopards in the game with errorless play.
