The Harford Tech softball program has leaned on junior Katie Irwin as the team?s starting pitcher throughout this season.
So when Cobras first-year head coach Fred Mongan opted to go with sophomore Amy Hamilton in Wednesday afternoon?s Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship game, most would think he was conceding victory.
In reality, he was simply setting his team up with the best chance to win.
“I wasn?t worried in the very beginning when they scored first,” Mongan said after the game at Thomas Run Park in Bel Air. “Our team can come back anytime, and they showed that they could.”
The Cobras (14-4 overall, 10-2 division) used a two-run outburst in the third inning to down heavily-favored C. Milton Wright (17-2 overall, 12-0 division). Tech came out of the Susquehanna Division, while the Mustangs came from the Chesapeake Division, which has the elite teams in the UCBAC.
Irwin entered the game in the fourth inning, shortly after the Cobras took a one-run lead in the bottom of the third.
“When I made the switch, it threw them off balance totally,” Mongan said. “Katie can put it anywhere you want it, and without flaw.”
“Amy is just as accurate,” Mongan said of the crafty sophomore. “The total difference is velocity, and without her throwing the way she did today, it would not have made Katie as effective.”
Sophomore catcher Kaela Mason was 3-for-3 to pace the Cobra attack. Her two-run triple in the third inning was the difference.
“She?s only a tenth grader,” Mongan said, adding that his catcher has batted close to .600 this season.
For Tech, this win meant much more than a banner that hangs in the school?s gymnasium.
“It put us on the map,” Mongan said. “It made people open up their eyes, and realize that we?re not the doormat for the county anymore.”
Wednesday, the Cobras brought home the program?s first UCBAC title.
It marked the second consecutive year that the Susquehanna champ upset the Chesapeake winner, after Perryville (Cecil County) downed the Mustangs last year.
TECHNICALLY FLAWLESS
» Harford Tech senior catcher Lauren Peterson, who reached base twice in three trips to the plate, is destined for Alfred University in upstate New York.
» Each season, the Susquehanna champ from the previous season moves up to the Chesapeake, while the Chesapeake team with the lowest record drops down to the Susquehanna Division.
