EASTON — Ryan Brice started calling Sammy Townsend a sensation the first year she stepped in the circle.
“She was a freshman sensation,” Easton High’s head softball coach said. “Sophomore sensation. Junior sensation. And now she’s a senior sensation.”
Townsend was quite the sensation Friday afternoon, walking the first batter she faced before retiring the next 21 straight en route to a no-hitter that helped the fourth-seeded Warriors to a 2-0 shutout over No. 5 North East in a Class 2A state quarterfinal.
Winners of five straight, Easton (16-4) will face top-seeded Mount Hebron (19-0) in a state semifinal on Tuesday at the Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie. Game time had not been determined as of Friday night’s press time. It’s the first time the Warriors have reached the state semifinals since 2015.
“I keep telling the girls, if we keep believing in ourselves and play as one unit, play clean defense, make zero mistakes, we’re going to walk away victorious,” Brice said. “All we need is one run because I’m so confident in our defense. If we can just get one across, I’m confident we can hold anybody.”
The Indians’ best scoring chance came in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Taylor Zellner walked, stole second and moved to third on Rylie Baumann’s groundout. But Zellner went no further, as Townsend got a called third strike and an inning-ending groundout to third.
“I guess I had to get the jitters out,” Townsend said of her walk to Zellner. “I don’t know what it was. She was on third and I was like, ‘She’s not getting home.’ I have a good defense behind me.”
That defense recorded eight groundouts and eight putouts via pop-ups or fly balls. The other five outs were Townsend strikeouts.
“In the beginning, I got a lot of full counts, and they were really patient in the box,” Townsend said of North East (14-6). “They were not chasing anything. But I had a solid defense behind me and they kept miss-hitting everything. And everything was getting played. We stepped it up incredibly (on defense) since the end of our (regular) season. I think the last week of practice really helped us. We’ve been locked in this week.”
Since a 10-1 loss at Queen Anne’s April 28, Easton has yielded just five runs during its five-game win streak, which has included three shutouts. Lyla Mae Roe pitched an eight-inning, two-hit gem in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Queen Anne’s in the 2A East Region II final.
Friday it was Townsend’s turn.
“Her throwing a no-no in the quarterfinals of a state playoff game. … You can’t put it into words,” Brice said of Townsend, who didn’t know she had thrown a no-hitter until assistant coach Tracy Roe told her during Easton’s postgame chat. “She’s one of the best pitchers that I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”
North East pitcher Jazmyn Martin had allowed just two singles through four innings.
But Easton’s Leah Smith opened the fifth with a pop-up that went off the glove of North East’s backpedaling third baseman Jahnel Ledford. With Smith breaking for second, Lane Kennedy popped out to Martin, who threw to first in an attempt to double off Smith. But an errant throw allowed Smith to reach second. Leigha Bosley beat out a bunt single, pushing Smith to third. Bosley stole second uncontested. Brynlee Buchkoski followed with a groundout that scored Smith for a 1-0 Warriors lead and moved Bosley to third.
Shuffling down the third-base line, Bosley drew a throw from Indians’ catcher Alycia McGee. Well off the bag, Bosley broke for home and dove across the plate safely as the throw from third glanced off McGee’s mitt.
“It was planned,” Bosley said of her base-running play. “We were always taught to base run aggressively. Even after it was 1-0, Brice always tells us he wants to get up as much as he can. I figured, two outs, might as well try. I just took off. She (McGee) was standing in front of the plate so I was like, ‘Me or her?’ I got to go at her. It worked out and that’s all that matters.”
Martin walked Gemma Vogel then got Townsend to line out to second to end the inning.
Townsend set North East down in order in the sixth and seventh to complete the no-hitter.
“Coach Tracy told me and I was like, ‘Whoa,’” Townsend said of her no-hitter. “I’ve never done that before. And a full seven innings. That’s pretty cool.”
