(Updated 3/28/18)

- By Patrick Taylor -

It’s the opening week of the spring high school sports season, which can only mean one thing - cancellations due to weather have already occurred.

Last week, snow pushed back opening day for all spring sports because winter seemingly loves to make Marylanders collectively channel their inner Michael Corleone, forcing us to yell “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

But a couple days after the snow, the sporting season officially kicked off.

Once again all eyes are on Eastern Tech in the world of softball. Despite graduating star pitcher Jodie Bronushas, Tech returns a strong core group of players, led by senior shortstop Casey Turner.

Last season, Turner was a standout who earned Second Team All-Metro honors. She led the Mavericks with a .428 batting average and 27 RBIs. She added three home runs and 31 runs, while putting up an outstanding .912 fielding percentage.

Turner will need to be on top of her game all season if she wants to guide Tech to its first state title since 2014. While 2014 doesn’t sound like that far away, Tech has incredibly high standards. The Mavericks have won the Baltimore County title seven years running but haven’t been able to claim another state championship.

With that said, they have been trending up over the past few years. In 2015, they crashed out of the state tournament in the regional final. In 2016 they made it out of their region but lost in the semifinal to La Plata. Last year they got to the semifinal but fell to North Caroline High School. This season, the goal is to make it over that hump.

Aiding Turner in that quest will be seniors Natalie Bates (who put up very similar offensive numbers to Turner) and Amaya Chmielewski, both of whom were major contributors to last year’s team and help make this team well-rounded. Junior catcher Miranda Burton will also play a crucial role in guiding this team to the promised land. In total, nine starters return to the Tech lineup, giving them key experience.

But Tech’s ace-in-the-hole is head coach Jack Meyers, who was named All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2017. Heading into the season, his tenth at Tech, Meyers had accumulated a record of 159 - 16. He picked up no. 160 in the team’s opener against Carver, with his girls dominating by a score of 15 - 5.

This team has everything you want - experience, talent, no gaping holes and an experienced coach known for getting the most out of his players. I promised myself I wouldn’t make any predictions after thinking I jinxed Perry Hall’s boys basketball team when I predicted they would repeat as state champs, but since I ended up nailing my prediction I’ll put it in ink that Tech will bring home the crown this season.

The girls will take on Dulaney on April 4 in what should be a tough early season test. Tech entered the season ranked atop the Baltimore Sun’s softball poll, while Dulaney came in at No. 4.

Around the league
While Tech softball might be the class of Baltimore County, Sparrows Point is nipping at their heals. The Pointer girls made waves last season before crashing out of the postseason against Tech. They return a lot of starters and have already shown their strength this season, upending No. 7 Hereford by a score of 8 - 3. With Second Team All-Metro recipient Emily Dutton graduating at the end of last season, the Pointers turn to senior pitcher Jessica Miller. Sparrows Point will travel to Towson High School on April 3 for a 3:45 p.m. contest.

The Dundalk Owls kicked off their season with a staggering 22 - 10 win over Woodlawn on March 26.  They will look to keep the hitting coming when they host Chesapeake on April 6 at 4 p.m. before traveling to Aberdeen on April 10. less

(Updated 3/28/18)

- By Patrick Taylor -

It’s the opening week of the spring high school sports season, which can only mean one thing - cancellations due to weather have already occurred.

Last week, snow pushed back opening day for all spring sports because winter seemingly loves to make Marylanders collectively channel their inner Michael Corleone, forcing us to yell “just when I thought ...read more