Andersons Bar pitcher Brooke Martin lofts the ball to the plate in the Sept. 10 contest against host Champion Auto at Cryer’s Bar, where Martin and the visitors emerged with a 10-5 victory in the game four of the championship series to force a fifth and deciding game last Sunday.
Players from the Champion Auto Slow-Pitch Softball team line the fence overlooking the field across from Cryer’s Bar last Wednesday in the fourth game of the championship series there against Andersons Bar. Champion lost that game but would take the deciding fifth game and the title on Sunday.
Andersons Bar runner stands at first base as Champion Auto first baseman Jaycee Chamberlain keeps close eye on the batter on Sept. 10 in the fourth game of the championship series at Cryer’s Bar in Leonardtown.
Andersons Bar pitcher Brooke Martin lofts the ball to the plate in the Sept. 10 contest against host Champion Auto at Cryer’s Bar, where Martin and the visitors emerged with a 10-5 victory in the game four of the championship series to force a fifth and deciding game last Sunday.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
Players from the Champion Auto Slow-Pitch Softball team line the fence overlooking the field across from Cryer’s Bar last Wednesday in the fourth game of the championship series there against Andersons Bar. Champion lost that game but would take the deciding fifth game and the title on Sunday.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
Andersons Bar runner stands at first base as Champion Auto first baseman Jaycee Chamberlain keeps close eye on the batter on Sept. 10 in the fourth game of the championship series at Cryer’s Bar in Leonardtown.
In many respects the outcome of last Sunday afternoon’s St. Mary’s County slow-pitch championship between host Andersons Bar and visiting Champion Auto hinged on a pair of talented siblings on each squad. When the dust settled following the frenetic contest, it was Champion Auto that prevailed 18-16 in a genuine see-saw battle.
Andersons Bar twins Kaylee Cross and Kassidy Cross, both of whom played four seasons together at Northern High School where they were part of three 3A state titles, and Champion step-sisters Jaycee Chamblerlain and Syndey Bales, both of whom earned state titles together at La Plata, had played key roles in leading their respective squads to the fifth and deciding game on Sunday.
Andersons had won the opener 15-9, but Champion took the next two 22-21 and 26-11 and had the chance to capture the best-of-five series in game four at home at Cryer’s Bar. But the Cross twins and their teammates had other ideas as Andersons struck early and prevailed 10-5 behind a solid pitching performance from Brooke Martin and a stout defense that turned three double plays.
Then in Sunday’s deciding game, the Cross twins and Champion siblings both rose to the forefront. Champion scored four runs in the top of the first, but Andersons replied with five runs in the home half of the frame for a modest 5-4 lead that proved to be their last. After five complete the two squads were tied at 8-8, although the hosts squandered a chance to break the game open in the home half of the fifth.
“It seemed like we were chasing them all day,” said Andersons Bar coach Dave Cross, father of the famed Cross twins in the lineup. “We had the chance to take the momentum going into the last two innings. We had the first two batters reach, but we couldn’t score and we had the top of the order and heart of the lineup due up.”
When Andersons failed to score, Champion seized the lead and the momentum.
The visitors replied with seven runs in the top of the sixth and took an 18-12 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Andersons responded with a rally that saw the hosts score four runs, including two on what proved to be the game’s final at-bat. A two-run single brought the game within reach, but the last out was recorded at third base.
