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by Alejandro Danois
When City College and Western High softball teams met earlier this month, Akeema Richards’ three-run homer in the sixth inning propelled the Doves to a come-from-behind victory. History seemed to repeat itself Friday afternoon as Western rallied past the host Knights, 14-7, in a Baltimore City league match.
With the Doves (7-2 overall) trailing 7-6 in the fifth and the bases loaded, Richards blasted the first pitch deep into centerfield for a grand slam, giving Western a 10-7 advantage. On April 4, Richards’ three-run homer in the sixth inning helped her team overcome a 4-1 deficit for an 8-4 victory over City.
“My adrenaline was pumping, the momentum was on our side and I wanted it,” said Richards, who spoke with Doves coach Nick Usher before stepping into the batters’ box. “My coach just told me to swing the bat and go for it all, and that’s what I did.”
Western shutdown the Knights (6-3) the rest of the way as Cierra Glasscho had a defensive gem in the bottom of the fifth, worthy of a mention in ESPN’s SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays. Glasscho went airborne and snagged away a scorching liner off the bat of City senior Talisha Harris.
When Glasscho opened her glove to reveal the ball to the umpires, the home plate umpire mumbled to himself, “Brooks Robinson would have had a hard time with that one.”
“I have to admit that that was kind of scary,” said Glasscho. “It was wonderful when I caught it and I didn’t even know that I caught it at first.”
“We work on reaction drills and she’s showed me stuff like that in practice before,” said Usher. “She’s got a mean glove.”
The Doves tighten up defensively after falling behind 6-0. Taliesha Lee’s three-run homer put the Knights up in the first before recording an out. Leading 4-0 with two outs, senior Megan Patterson smacked a two-run triple into leftfield.
“It’s always a heated rivalry when we play City, so I just told them to calm down and relax and let the game come to them,” said Usher.
The Doves scored two runs each in the second and third innings, and added another in the fourth and fifth before Richards’ grand slam opened the floodgates. Richards was a triple short of the cycle, finishing 4 for 5 with two singles and a double, and Glasscho and junior Rebecca Edwards went 3 for 4.
“The turning point was the grand slam,” said City coach Linda Contee. “That put them up three runs and we couldn’t capitalize on anything after that. Hopefully we’ll reflect on it, learn from it and try again next week.”
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