Abby Mitchell stars at the plate, in the circle in Catonsville softball’s 6-3 victory over Century

Catonsville softball senior Abby Mitchell hit two doubles and was the winning pitcher as the Comets broke open a tie game with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 6-3 victory over visiting Century on Wednesday.

Her second double down the left-field line led off the bottom of the sixth inning with the score tied at 1. She came home on a pair of wild pitches to give the Comets a lead they would not relinquish.

“I’ve been doing really well the past few games. [Century starting pitcher Jordan Currie] was throwing a lot of pitches outside and those aren’t usually my pitch to swing at and I was fouling those off, waiting for a better pitch,” Mitchell said. “She threw me inside, I think I rung two down the line and those were the inside pitches.”

With two outs, Amy Montgomery-Smith, Eliza Krug and Lilly Ureno walked, setting the stage for sophomore Kylie Tran, who tripled to right-center on an 0-2 pitch to clear the bases.

“I have so much faith in my teammates,” Mitchell said. “I was sitting in here knowing that [Tran] was going to get it done, so that made it a lot easier for me to come out here and give me some leeway.”

“Tran had one earlier in the season basically in the same situation where we needed the runs and she comes through with a big hit,” Catonsville coach Paul Harris said, noting she did it in a win over Sparrows Point.

Tran scored the sixth run on an RBI single by Sam Rickwalder, who had doubled in the third inning and scored the Comets’ first run after a throwing error on a steal attempt.

Century scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh after hits by Makayla Bodner and Kayla Malloy and a sacrifice fly by Caylee Clark.

“It was just a little too late,” Century coach Kim Perdue said. “We need to hit better throughout the game and that’s on us, but we’ll do better.”

Mitchell notched her fifth strikeout in three relief innings to end the game. It came one day after she struck out 12 batters in a complete-game 7-2 victory over Dulaney.

“Yesterday was my first game back from an injury. It was a neck strain and feeling a little bit sore today, but all in all, it felt great and it’s really helpful to have pitchers like Amy [Montgomery-Smith] that can come in and take some innings for me,” Mitchell said.

Montgomery-Smith pitched four innings and allowed two hits and one run in the top of the first after a leadoff walk to Alyssa Sarver and two-out single by Clark.

“It’s good to have [Mitchell] back pitching,” Harris said. “She’s been in the lineup, but we haven’t been able to have her in the circle and she’s a leader on the team, so I think having her in the circle just gives the team a different dynamic, a different level, not to take anything away from Amy, who for a sophomore coming in here and doing what she has been doing has been absolutely amazing.”

Currie deserved a better fate. She finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed only six hits, but got little offensive support.

“We had some opportunities today we just didn’t hit enough,” Perdue said.

The Knights’ best rally came in the third inning when they loaded the bases with two outs on two walks and an error, but right fielder Jaynie Simpkins caught a foul fly ball to end the inning.

“You load the bases and you need that clutch hit and that’s what softball is all about, that is what wins games,” Perdue said. “Our hitting hopefully will come alive, that is what I am hopeful for.”

Century dropped to 2-4 and Catonsville improved to 5-2 before a third game in a row Thursday against Western Tech.