Published: July 18, 2008 01:30 am         

Fort Hill voted Area champion

Strong finish gave Sentinels 20 wins, state championship

The Fort Hill Sentinels, who began the season with eight straight wins and finished with five impressive victories to win the Maryland Class 1A state championship, were voted Cumberland Times-News Area softball champions.

The Sentinels, who beat Col. Richardson 9-4 to win the school’s first softball state title, finished 20-3 and were Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference co-champions with Mountain Ridge. Both had 11-2 conference records.

Fort Hill, coached by Mike Bittner, leads all teams with four Area championships. The others came in 2003, 2004 and 2005 under Chuck Eberly. Southern Garrett has won three and Allegany and Frankfort one.

“We listed our goals at the beginning of the year, and winning the Area was part of the plan,’’ said Bittner. “We wanted to win the City, the Area, and the region, and hopefully get a shot at the state.

“We did it all.”

Fort Hill, without a senior on the team, went unbeaten in winning the City, and went 15-3 during the regular season, rolling to victories in many games, and also pulling out wins in close games, including 7-5 over Jefferson, 5-4 over Allegany, and 3-2 over Hedgesville.

Bittner felt Easter Tournament games against Jefferson and Hollidaysburg were keys. The Sentinels won both.

“It was early in the season and I knew things were going to be good after we beat both of those teams,’’ he said. “And late in the year we split two games with a very strong Hedgesville team, which was 24-3 when we played them.

“And, of course, the games with Mountain Ridge and Allegany are always big ones. I think our region is the toughest in the state. They could have won the state championship, too. This is a very tough region for softball. And everybody has just about everybody coming back next year.”

While the Sentinels beat Allegany 5-4 and 6-1, they lost two of three to Mountain Ridge. The Miners won the regular season games 7-5 and 6-0. Fort Hill won the region championship game, 6-1.

The Sentinels then beat Bohemia Manor 7-3 before handling Col. Richardson 9-4 to win the state championship, which was the first state title for a Fort Hill girls team since volleyball, in 1954.

Shari Beavers led the way with a 14-1 pitching record, 1.42 earned run average and 161 strikeouts in 103 2-3 innings. Cierra Miller was 6-2 with a 1.53 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 50 1-3 innings.

With pitching like that, the Sentinels didn’t need much hitting. But they had plenty of it, too.

Beavers batted .493 with eight doubles, five triples, five homers and 28 RBIs. Six others hit .300 or better: Adria Lewis, .370, 6 doubles, 20 RBIs; Kathryn Huber, .369, 31 hits; Alex Schupfer, .328, 15 RBIs; Miller, .324; Destiny James, .321, 11 RBIs, and Lindsey Fisher, .309, 10 RBIs. Olivia Stanley batted .277 with eight doubles.

With pitching and hitting in place, defense remained the final piece to the puzzle.

“I think our defense was the key,’’ said Bittner. “A year ago, when we had all freshmen and sophomores, we might have averaged four or five errors a game. We cut that by probably three-fourths this year.

“Anyone can hit the ball. We made the plays in the field when we needed to, except for one game against Mountain Ridge.”

The Sentinels went from 10-11 in 2007 to 20-3 and state champs in 2008.

“The girls improved so much from one year to the next. That and the togetherness were big factors for us,’’ said Bittner. “They stuck together from March 1 to the end. There was never any squabbling or anything like that. They did everything together.

“I was honored to coach a team like this one. The players stuck together and the coaches did, too. Togetherness, from top to bottom, was the key to everything.”

Four sports writers voted each week in the Times-News poll. Ratings points were awarded on a five-point scale, with five points for a first-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sports writer. Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.