Spalding standouts shine in loss

College Park (Map, News) - With three familiar faces on the field, Stephanie Weigman felt at ease facing the top high school softball players in Maryland last Wednesday.

Weigman led three other Archbishop Spalding players — Sloane Van Meter, Mary Beth Herrick and Nicole Reeder — into Robert E. Taylor Stadium at the University of Maryland in the 10th annual Old Line Classic All-State All-Star Game.

“I think it says a lot about our program,” said Weigman, the Cavaliers’ starting pitcher. “We had a really strong senior class this year.”

Archbishop Spalding (15-5), the only school with four all-star selections, provided much of the firepower for Team Red in its 2-1, 10-inning loss to Team Gold.

While Weigman struck out seven in five innings of work from the circle, she also provided some punch from the plate.

Reeder led off the second inning with a single — her first of two. Courtesy runner Alison Rubin, from Montgomery Blair, stole second and third before Weigman followed with an RBI double to right field for a 1-0 lead.

Herrick, who hit .426 last season, drove a one-out triple to right-center in the fourth inning, but was stranded when North County’s Heather Karasek retired the next two batters.

The Cavaliers combined for four of the team’s six hits and reached base six times.

“I can’t take a whole lot of credit for that,” first-year Archbishop Spalding coach Paul O’Brien said. “These kids were good before I got there. They are an amazing class of seniors. They’re just tremendously gifted, tremendously dedicated athletes. I was just lucky enough to not screw them up for a year.”

Weigman began the game in a familiar fashion — throwing her first pitch to Reeder, her catcher for the last six years.

After allowing a one-out triple to Northeast center fielder Jillian Miller, the game’s Most Valuable Player, Weigman got Colleen Matthes to line out to first.

Severna Park third baseman Desirae Sullivan lined a groundball through the box and Herrick made a diving play at second base to escape the jam.

“They’re some of the top players in the state,” O’Brien said. “It’s something I’ve grown to expect from them — to rise up and meet the challenge.”

All four Cavaliers will continue their softball careers at the collegiate level next year, leaving a sizable gap in Archbishop Spalding’s softball program.

For O’Brien, the game was much more than watching his players try to pull out a win and stop Northeast and Team Gold coach Marianne Schultz’s nine-game winning streak; it was about saying goodbye.

“I’m going to miss those four,” O’Brien said. “They’re a special group of kids.”

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