COLLEGE PARK — For the second year in a row, the Manchester Valley softball team reached Saturday's state championship game. And after a second straight title, the celebration was again muted.
It wasn't for a lack of passion — these Mavericks, relaxed and poised from the start, danced and laughed all the way to another Class 1A state championship. Backed by Madison Grimm's five-inning no-hitter, Manchester Valley broke open its state final rematch with nine runs in the final two innings and beat Sparrows Point, 11-0, at Robert E. Taylor Stadium.
The Mavericks (19-4) scored five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth, and their senior pitcher kept the Pointers from making solid contact all day.
Grimm struck out 10 and allowed only two base runners. She struck out the final two batters and, as she did in last year's state final, trotted off the field with a smile.
No throwing gloves into the air, no wild screams. Just a grin and a sigh of relief for Grimm and many of her teammates.
"It makes it a little bit more comfortable playing on this field before," Grimm said. "I was expecting the game to be a little bit closer. And it just helped when we started hitting to settle all the nerves, and I think everyone just settled down after the second inning."
Manchester Valley coach Mike Hernandez said his players took turns dancing on the bus ride from Manchester to College Park. After the Mavericks finished their pregame warmups, they stood along the top step of the dugout while music blared from inside. Manchester Valley also had its most famous cheerleader — former Ravens player O.J. Brigance, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is friends with Hernandez through his job as a respiratory therapist — back to watch the state final.
During breaks in the action, they looked for family and friends among the crowd, many of whom made signs in a show of support.
The Mavericks were adding signatures to some of the signs after finishing off back-to-back state championships.
A 2-0 lead became 7-0 in the fourth, when Manchester Valley sent 11 batters to the plate. Grimm drove in two runs with a single, and the Mavericks took advantage of three Sparrows Point errors in the inning.
The Pointers (17-4) were on their second pitcher by then — senior Brooke Peterson left the game in the second inning after striking out and getting hit on her throwing hand by a fastball from Grimm in the process. Sparrows Point lost its hard-throwing ace, and hopes of winning the school's first state title seemed derailed.
Grimm ran into a little trouble in the first inning.
Stacy Bundy reached on an error with one out, and Grimm hit Hannah Auvil with two outs to put runners on first and second. Hannah Burrows then hit a soft liner to first baseman Karina Robinson, and the threat was over. The Pointers never reached base again.
Manchester Valley, meanwhile, was just getting started.
The 10-run rule went into effect in the fifth inning after Grimm hit a two-run double and Lauren Vogel added a sacrifice fly. With their ace still in command and three outs to go, the Mavericks were on the verge of partying.
Well, sort of.
"We've had our moments where it has been tense. I mean, every team is going to," said junior shortstop Jessie Swistock, who had two hits and scored twice. "But that has been the biggest thing, coming into this game especially, is being relaxed. I think that helped, too, on the field. Nobody was tense."
Manchester Valley ended the season on a six-game winning streak, and Grimm pitched three shutouts in the playoffs. The Mavericks dominated postseason foes, outscoring them by a combined 68-3.
Hernandez replaced all of his seniors, except for Grimm, with one out to go, so they could walk off to an ovation. Plus, he was able to let his younger players experience a state final game, albeit for a few pitches.
Grimm is one of Manchester Valley's five seniors, but the Mavericks have 16 other players who could return for a chance at a three-peat and more fun.
"I [tell] them when they come to practice, it's OK to have fun as long as you practice your fundamentals," Hernandez said. "I am all about fundamentals. And we get in there, you get your practice, you have a little bit of fun. ... We trust each other. There's a lot of trust on the whole team, not only the ones out there on the field but the ladies that are on the [bench].
"It's having them all clicking, and clicking at the right time."