During Wednesday’s regional championship softball game, Linganore senior left fielder Emily Ausherman had eye black streaking down over her left eye and all around her lips.
“It’s Joker,” said Ausherman, referring to comic book character Batman’s arch-nemesis. “Our catcher, Johnna [Ryan], that’s my Batman. She’s the Batman to my Joker.”
But as far as the Lancers were concerned, this Joker was no villain. On the contrary, Ausherman was one of many heroes who came to Linganore’s rescue when it faced a daunting five-run deficit to a Thomas Johnson team that had beaten it handily in both regular season meetings.
Ausherman’s two-run single — her third hit of the day — highlighted a four-run rally in the fifth inning that gave the Lancers their first lead of the game. And with starting pitcher Camryn MacKay holding TJ scoreless for the final four innings as well as providing a much-needed offensive jolt with a solo homer, the host Lancers came away with an 11-5 comeback win in the Class 3A West Region I final.
With the victory, the Lancers (15-5) successfully defended their regional title and remain in position to defend their state crown. They advance to Friday’s state quarterfinals, and their opponent will be determined when all remaining teams are reseeded.
“It feels amazing,” MacKay said. “Ready to make a run and finish off the season as strong as we can.”
MacKay and Ausherman are just two of the returnees from that state championship team. Another one is Katie Healy, whose heroics loomed large in the state final, but she has been sidelined because of concussion protocol and will likely miss the rest of the season, according to Lancers coach Andrea Poffinberger.
“But she’s now our spirited leader in the dugout, and that works out, too,” Poffinberger said.
MacKay mentioned how her team’s ability to stay positive in the dugout helped prevent panic when the Lancers got off to an ominous start on Wednesday.
TJ took a 5-0 lead in the top of the third, when Samiyah Abdul-Khabir’s two-run single sparked a three-run rally. While beating any team — let alone a defending state champ — three times in the same season is a big ask, the Patriots were making a run at it.
But Ausherman pointed out how the Lancers lost to TJ in the regular season last year before rolling past them in the regional final and how they battled back from a huge deficit to make things closer in an 8-5 loss to the Patriots this season.
MacKay got things started, hitting a homer over the right-center fence in the bottom of the third.
The Lancers narrowed TJ’s lead to 5-3 in the fourth. Leo Cline led off with a double and scored on Ausherman’s second double of the day, one that came when the outfielder seemed to misjudge the ball. Ausherman scored on Autumn Rinehart’s groundout.
“I’m super proud of them for not giving up,” Poffinberger said. “They strung hits together, and we knew we had that capability also, and we just kept chomping at it and pushing and didn’t leave off of the gas after we started.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Gracie Wilson — perhaps the fastest Linganore runner — scored all the way from first base on a throwing error that resulted on a fielder’s choice.
Later that inning, Kylie Thompson delivered a pinch hit RBI single to right, and Ausherman followed with a two-run single.
“She’s our little energy ball,” Poffinberger said. “She never stops pushing, never stops talking and she never stops fighting in the batters box. She does a great job everywhere. That’s the reason she’s one of the captains.”
In the second inning, Ausherman doubled to right-center to get the first hit off TJ’s tough pitcher, Grace Roark.
“I feel like I saw the ball a lot better than I ever have against her,” Ausherman said. “Overall, I think the girls just came ready to swing with purpose and play offense the way we know we can.”
And MacKay, making good use of crack defenders like second baseman Devyn McFarland, MacKay needed no more offense. At one point, the right-hander called a timeout and summoned her infielders to the pitching circle.
“That’s when I relaxed and I knew we could do this, and that’s where I think the turning point was in this game,” she said.
Asked about yet another gutsy outing from MacKay, who is a senior, Poffinberger said, “I’m never nervous with Cam on the mound, usually, so that’s going to be an adjustment next year.”
Roark provided that same rock-solid presence for the Patriots (11-8), who held their own in softball-rich Frederick County and reached this game by knocking off a South Hagerstown team that beat TJ twice in the regular season.
“For us to start out 1-3 and finish here …” TJ coach Paul Jennings said. “We would have liked to have beaten them, but getting this far with one pitcher and a catcher [Lauren Chung], who wasn’t even in her primary position, the kids exceeded expectations.”
Jennings said he is stepping down as TJ’s coach after seven years at the helm.
“It’s bittersweet, but it’s been an honor and privilege to coach these kids,” he said. “Some of them I’ve had since they were 7 years old.”