About a dozen black bees hovered inside the visitors’ dugout at Glenelg High Thursday afternoon. For Reservoir’s softball team, it’s the business of playing on the road and various distractions.
But, the No. 2 Gators are flourishing. Reservoir defeated the seventh-ranked Gladiators, 7-2, in Western Howard County. Sophomore first basemen Cambell Sagin homered and freshman Keira Walsh had four hits.
The reigning Howard County champs combined clutch hitting with a gritty pitching effort from senior Maggie Frisvold to claim sole possession of first. The Fulton school extended its league-win streak to 35 games.
Reservoir (7-0 overall and Howard), with only two seniors, has won six of its first seven decisions on the road.
“We don’t know these fields, we don’t necessarily know how the balls are going to bounce and even managing the dugout,” said Gators coach Julie Frisvold. “It doesn’t matter, they just show up. They see a softball field and they’re like, ‘let’s go get in the dirt.’”
“Our goal is to score first and put the pressure on the other team,” said Maggie Frisvold.
Reservoir broke through in the third as Maggie Frisvold, an UMBC recruit, singled with two outs. On the next pitch, Sagin took Glenelg’s Bella Wisniewski’s offering over the leftfield fence for a 2-0 advantage.
In the fourth, Shelby Granzow’s two-out bloop single plated Walsh and Maggie Frisvold followed with a single scoring Courtney Johnson. Sophomore catcher Abigail Frisvold doubled home Walsh in the fifth, extending the Gators’ lead to 6-0.
Maggie Frisvold tightened on the mound when pressured, retiring the final three batters after Glenelg (6-2, 6-1 Howard) loaded the bases in the third. With runners on first and second in the fourth, she fanned the final two batters and got a 6-4-3 double play after allowing a leadoff single in the fifth.
“It was about staying calm and trusting my teammates,” said Frisvold, who struck nine Thursday but walked six.
The Gladiators were able to breakthrough in the seventh as Wisniewski opened with a walk and scored as Jamie Shaw’s single to left was booted for an error. Nia Stewart’s RBI groundout produced the other run for the hosts.
At least one runner reached base in all seven innings Thursday for Glenelg.
“Not capitalizing with the bases loaded really came back to hurt us,” said Gladiators coach Anna Pallozzi. “I’m so proud…Reservoir is a really tough team. The scoreline wasn’t reflective of the game we played. We got into our heads a little bit.”
With victories at contenders Wilde Lake and Glenelg under its belt, Reservoir is in the driver’s seat for another HoCo championship. The Gators play just two teams with a winning record over their final 10 games.
Julie Frisvold said her team’s club experience has helped shorten the learning curve.
“I have a lot of girls who play high competitive travel ball so when they see high school ball, this is our time to come out here and have fun,” said Frisvold. “You get to play for your community which you won’t get the chance to do during the summer.”
NO. 2 RESERVOIR 7, NO. 7 GLENELG 2
Reservoir 002 310 1 - 7 12 1
Glenelg 000 000 2 - 2 4 1
M. Frisvold and A. Frisvold; Wisniewski and Holden
2B: Reservoir - Sagin, A. Frisvold
3B: Reservoir - Johnson
HR: Reservoir - Sagin
