When Hammond’s Stephanie Speierman comes to the plate, opposing pitchers have a tough decision of whether to face the junior or put her on first base with a walk.

Opposing hitters, however, don’t have a choice.

They are forced to take their cuts against the flame-thrower, which is usually a futile effort. Speierman has pitched 10 games this season, and five of them have been no-hitters. She’s given up just one earned run all season.

“I worked hard over the winter and came out, and have been throwing well so far,” Speierman said. “I’ve definitely improved since last year.”

This story continues below
Advertisement

That is a scary thought for Hammond’s opponents. Speierman was 23-1 last year with a 0.20 ERA and a state-record 426 strikeouts. In the 2A state championship against North East of Cecil County, she pitched a perfect game, striking out 19 of 21 batters. The Golden Bears’ title marked the first by a Howard County team since the state tournament’s inception in 1977.

Instead of waving at Speierman’s fastball and becoming just another strikeout victim, many hitters have elected to bunt and hope they can slip the ball past the infielders.

“A lot of teams will come and they’ll swing away the first time through the lineup,” Speierman said, “and then bunt the second time through.”

The approach has put added pressure on Hammond’s defense.

“We go through those drills every day in the infield, and we don’t mind if they bunt,” Hammond coach Richard Pond said. “We’re figuring it’s just another out, and it has been.”

In Hammond’s 9-0 victory at Glenelg on April 26, the previously undefeated Gladiators tried all game to get a bunt past the drawn-in infielders, but became just another team to get no-hit by a pitcher who is fast becoming the greatest in Howard County history.

Hammond is 8-2 on the season, but Speierman has not allowed an earned run in either of her losses. If any of the players thought repeating as state champions would be easy, they learned their lesson in a sloppy, 3-0 loss to C. Milton Wright to open the season.

“That was probably the best thing that happened to us. It really shocked us.” Pond said. “You never want to lose a game, but that loss really made us a better team.”

Sophomore shortstop Morgan Mesol, who had four hits against the Gladiators, has teamed with sophomore catcher Kaitlin McCarthy to complement Speierman offensively.

Still, McCarthy didn’t know how hard Speierman threw until her first fastball smacked her glove last season.

“It was a little overwhelming,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t know how amazing she was.”

It’s hard to believe that Speierman, whose fastball regularly exceeds 60 mph and has verbally committed to play at Michigan in 2010, still may have room for improvement.

“When she gets angry, she steps it up,” Pond said. “If she can learn to pitch at that level all the time, the sky is the limit.”

avitelli@baltimoreexaminer.com