Catonsville softball sophomore Amy Montgomery-Snoke pitches no-hitter in 11-1 playoff triumph over Parkville

Catonsville sophomore Amy Montgomery-Snoke pitched a no-hitter in her first varsity playoff appearance to lead the host Comets to an 11-1, five-inning victory over Parkville in the Class 4A North Region I softball quarterfinals.

The right-hander allowed seven base runners on three walks, two hit batters and two errors, but wriggled out of jams in the second, third and seventh innings. The only run she allowed came after two walks, a wild pitch and RBI groundout by Nex Vaughn that scored Moe Matthews in the seventh.

Montgomery-Snoke didn’t recall the last time she threw a no-hitter.

“Probably like when I was very little, but not recently,” said Montgomery-Snoke, who was undaunted by the playoff pressure. “I feel like when I’m nervous, I don’t do well. I relax and focus and my teammates have my back. I think our defense is really solid, and when we have two outs I feel like there is no chance of scoring.”

Montgomery-Snoke has been the Comets’ No. 2 pitcher this season behind senior ace Abby Mitchell.

“Anything we can do to give Abby a little bit of rest is more than welcome,” Catonsville coach Paul Harris said. “I felt like this was a good game for her to get some work in and it worked out really well.”

Montgomery-Snoke also helped herself on three nifty plays on slow choppers to the mound.

In the first inning, Parkville got Hailey Dever to second after she reached on a two-out error and stole second, but Montgomery-Snoke fanned cleanup hitter Rayne Stewart to end the inning. The Comets rallied with three runs in the bottom of the inning when they took advantage of two Parkville errors.

“We call it, ‘Any way we can,’” Harris said. “That’s the way we like to play, we get on base and errors is just as good as a hit in my book. Base runners score runs and that’s what we have.”

Jaynie Simpkins reached on an error with one out and stole second and third. Her steal of third came on the catcher’s throw back to the pitcher.

“We worked on that all day in practice and I talk to them all the time about it,” Harris said. “It’s my expectation that I want them to be aggressive on the base paths. I can’t push them. I can always pull them back, but they’ve got to have that aggression going in and most of them, that’s what they have.”

Courtesy runner Clara Nelson stole second and Mitchell scored both runners when sacrifice fly was dropped for an error. After Montgomery-Snoke singled, Mitchell scored on a ground out by Colleen Simpkins.

Carmen Winchester walked and Skylar Brooks was hit by the pitch leading off the second for Parkville, but Montgomery-Snoke struck out the next two batters and catcher Abby Grimes picked off Winchester at third base to end the inning.

Catonsville scored three more runs in the bottom of the second. Kylie Tran led off with a walk and came home on an RBI double by Sam Rickwalder. She stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Grimes (2-for-2, two walks) singled and, after advancing two bases on wild pitches, courtesy runner Clara Nelson scored on a sacrifice fly by Mitchell.

Parkville threatened again in the third. Viki Sanchez-Aleksandrala was hit by the pitch leading off and Vaughn reached on an error on a play that nearly became Parkville’s first hit. Second baseman Leah Riley made a tough play on a ball between her and first baseman Lilly Ureno, but her backhand flip, which was in plenty of time, went past Ureno.

Catonsville added four runs in the fifth on a leadoff walk and stolen base by Rickwalder and three consecutive singles by Kaia Gross, Grimes and Mitchell. Mitchell (2-for-2, 3 RBIs) singled home pinch-runner Reese Smith with the final run to end the game in bottom of the fifth because of the 10-run rule.

Parkville’s season ended at 8-10, but coach Dawn Coady is excited about the future.

“We are a young team. I have three sophomores and a freshman,” said Coady, noting pitcher Vaughn, catcher Stewart and third baseman Winchester are all sophomores. “I feel pretty good about it. I think we battled hard, we were the underdogs coming in and we knew that and I’m happy we got on the board.”

Third-seeded Catonsville (12-6) advances to play at second-seeded Dulaney in the regional semifinals on Monday. The teams split during the regular season.