Overlea pitcher Ashley Lamky did everything she could to avenge a previous loss to Owings Mills with her one-hit shutout Thursday afternoon in eastern Baltimore County.
The junior led the Falcons to an 11-0 win in the last home game of the season against an Owings Mills (5-12) team that defeated Overlea a week ago.
Lamky went 2-for-3 at the plate, including a third-inning grand slam to power her team (10-6) to victory. The mercy-rule ended the game after five innings.
“I think it was a screwball inside, and I just hacked at it,” Lamky said of the pitch she drove into deep left-center field for her sixth homer.
She drove in five runs and reached base all three times she came to the plate, including a double in the second inning.
On the mound, the junior struck out eight batters in five innings, and allowed just one hit and two walks.
“That?s by far her best outing of the year,” Overlea head coach Otis Jones said. “If she can pitch like that, I feel pretty good about the playoffs.”
The week before, Lamky was able to pitch just one inning against Owings Mills before departing for the school?s junior prom.
“She was great [today],” Jones said. “Without her [last week], we lost to them, because she couldn?t pitch.”
Lamky threw an inning so her team could play with a minimum of nine players, and departed after an inning, with just eight Falcons left to play. The Golden Eagles won, 13-1.
Coincidentally, Lamky and senior catcher Amanda DeMoine were not only the starting battery for Jones, but also the heart of his batting order.
“I can?t say enough positive things about the skills of my three and four hitters,” Jones said.
The Overlea attack began in the second inning, as a dozen batters came to the plate, with seven scoring. The Falcons rattled out seven hits in the frame, highlighted by three consecutive doubles from the heart of the order.
The Falcons scored in bunches, with seven runs in the second, and four more in the third inning.
BELTWAY BATTLE
» Thursday?s game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was played on Thursday to accommodate Overlea?s senior prom.
» The Falcons carry five freshmen, and three sophomores on a roster that features just one senior. DeMoine, the lone senior, entered the game with a .450 batting average and 22 runs batted in.
» Lamky entered Thursday?s game with a .500 batting average, and with her home run and five runs batted in, now has a team-best six homers and 32 runs batted in.
» DeMoine will attend Salisbury in the fall, a college which Lamky hopes to attend to play softball.
