Team has won 50 games in a row against league rivals
A couple of bookend blowout victories and a bit of a semifinal scare resulted in a fifth straight conference tournament championship for the top seed Potomac School Panthers.
The girls high-school softball team finished 3-0 in the Independent School League AA Division playoff tourney, blanking visiting Georgetown Visitation, 10-0, behind 13 hits in the May 11 title game on the Panthers’ home field. With 14 hits, Potomac School (15-1) shut out St. Andrews, 12-0, in the first round, then topped National Cathedral, 5-3, in the semifinals, getting just six hits.
“Our bats were back alive more like usually for Potomac School today, with a lot of clutch hits,” Potomac School coach Wayne Loving said after the championship game. “We only struck out twice. Against National Cathedral we hit the ball hard, but right at people for outs.”
With the three tournament wins, the Panthers were 10-0 against ISL opponents this season, stretching their multi-season victory string versus league rivals to 50, including 14 straight in the playoffs.
Overall, the ISL tourney crown was the team’s ninth in program history.
In this season’s conference tournament, senior right-hander Abby Rebhan (15-1) was the winning pitcher in all three games. She hurled a one-hitter with four strikeouts and no walks in the title contest, needing just 64 pitches in the shortened six inning slaughter-rule outing.
“Abby was on and we made the plays behind her,” Loving said. “Zora [Burrell] had a good game at shortstop for us defensively.”
With the bat in the final, Hayley Richardson belted a two-run homer and Rebhan, Anna Castellano, Fae Butler and Paige Schedler had RBI singles. Rebhan had three hits, Alexis Vaughan two and Charlotte Parry singled and had an RBI popup. Addie Wolff added a sacrifice bunt and Leyton Mayrhofer scored two runs.
“The National Cathedral game was a tough one,” Loving said. “After that we talked about having more team spirit in the championship game. We did and we made all the plays. It was good to see Hayley hit the home run. She got her pitch.”
In the semifinals, Butler and Castellano had two hits each and Schedler and Richardson had the others. Vaughan had a sacrifice fly and Burrell stole three bases and Richardson two.
Rebhan threw a six-hitter with eight strikeouts.
Against St. Andrews, Castellano and Parry had two hits and three RBI each. Mayrhofer had two hits and two RBI, Schedler had two hits and one RBI, Rebhan had two hits and Burrell had a hit and an RBI. Richardson, Butler and Wolff also had hits.
Rebhan threw a two-hitter and fanned seven with two walks in the shortened five-inning contest.
After winning the ISL title, Potomac School advances as the No. 2 seed to the eight-team Division I private-school state tournament, hosting No. 7 seed St. Gertrude in the first round.
The Panthers have finished second in the state the last four times the event was held, losing to Bishop O’Connell in each of those title games. O’Connell is the top seed this season.
NOTES: Parry also played on Potomac School’s AA Division ISL tournament champion girls soccer team during this past fall’s season. The Panthers then won the four-team Northern Virginia state tourney . . . Parry’s father, Brian, used to be Potomac School’s head girls softball coach.
