West

In 2025, Montgomery County sent six teams into the state tournament, including Damascus in the 2A, Sherwood in the 3A, while Northwest, Blair, Churchill, and Richard Montgomery advanced in the highest class. Of these teams, both Sherwood and Churchill advanced to the championship game, with neither bringing home the title. With last spring marking the first time since 2021 no MCPS team won a state softball title, the question is, will any hoist the big trophy in 2026? Here are the ten teams from MCPS most likely to win the big game: 1. Damascus The Hornets’ 2025 season started very mercurially. Their 4-2 record to start the season included scoring double-digit runs in each of the wins, highlighted by a 19-0 opening day rout against Seneca Valley on opening day, but the squad gave up double-digit runs in each of the losses. After the rocky start, Damascus finished their season on an 8-1 run, including six additional double-digit offensive performances. The Hornets outscored Southern, Centennial, and Hereford 39-5 from the regional semifinals to the state quarterfinals, before a one run loss in the semifinals against Stephen Decatur. Damascus looks so good this coming spring because, after only losing senior Josie Hoffacker, they will return first-team all-MCPS nominee Brook Sell, Marymount University commit Kailyn Sheahin plus all-Met honorable mention Ana DiGiandomenico. This spring looks very bright in Damascus. 2. Churchill The Bulldogs opened their last campaign with a 3-3 record, including scoring 19 runs in a road game against Watkins Mill and a home game against Whitman, while also surrendering 20 on the road against Walter Johnson. From there, Churchill turned up their play, working towards a 10-7 regular season record. The team was one of the only of any sport in the state to play six playoff games, requiring a regional quarterfinal match all the way to the state championship. Churchill outscored opponents 41-5 in the first five playoff games, before an unfortunate end in the 4A championship, falling to Leonardtown 5-0. The loss of Villanova softball commit Maggie King will hurt this year’s squad, along with four other seniors, but they are set to be led by first-team all-division nominee Kai-En Hsu and honorable mention Jacqueline Le. 3. Walter Johnson The Wildcats opened their season dropping their first game, but they quickly turned it around with a seven game win streak. This impressive stretch started with a 26-0 blowout on the road against Gaithersburg, followed by a 20-3 win over Churchill and a 20-4 win at Whitman. However, the stretch quickly switched course, with Walter Johnson going on to lose four of their next five. After outsourcing Einstein and Springbrook 29-0 in their final two regular season games, WJ would fail to make it past the regional semifinals, as Churchill got their revenge in a 7-0 loss. Despite the unfortunate end to their season, the WIldcats look to be in prime position going into this season. After losing four seniors, they will return Ella Reynolds, the all-division player of the year and Emory University commit, along with two seniors and three sophomores who all made the division’s first team. 4. Northwest The Jaguars opened their season on a fourteen game win streak that included a 19-2 road win against Magruder, a 19-4 road win against Gaithersburg, and a 20-run shutout victory over Blake, also on the road. After this, Northwest dropped their final two games of the season, losing to Damascus and Churchill. After eliminating Frederick, Urbana, and Richard Montgomery from the playoffs, the Jaguars fell in their state semifinal game against Leonardtown, the future 4A state champions. While this year’s team will be without six members of last year’s state semifinalist team, head coach Mike Horton will look to bring his team back to the state bracket in the coming months. 5. Wootton The Patriots’ last season kicked off with a strong win over Einstein before the team dropped three of their next four. Following the slide, Wootton won five of their next six, including a 20-4 victory against Watkins Mill on the road, a 14-11 fight against Paint Branch, and a 17-0 home blowout over Northwood. The team went on to finish with an 8-7 regular season record, before beating Kennedy and Rockville in the regional bracket to win the region title. In the state quarterfinals, the Patriots had a tough seed, and were forced to face Sherwood, where they fell 15-0. The good news is that, after losing just three seniors, Wootton will return Bryn Priolo and Emily Liu, who were selected as first-team and honorable mentions to the all-division team, respectively. 6. Sherwood Last year’s 3A runner ups were the lone undefeated team from Montgomery County, finishing with 15 wins. In those 15, the Warriors plated at least 10 runs in 12 games, and at least 15 in seven. From the regional semifinals to the state quarterfinals, Ashley Barber-Strunk’s team outscored Atholton, Reservoir, and Wootton 35-0, before taking down the Dulaney Lions 2-0, punching their ticket to the big game. However, with the season on the line, Sherwood could not come through, falling 5-3 against the Chopticon Braves, ending their season. This year’s squad will be without several key members, including first-team all-met selection Keira Schlutz and first-team all MCPS nominee Avery Anderson, but all-division honorable mention Gabby Anderson will be returning as the team looks to make it back to the top of the state for the second time in three years 7. Quince Orchard The Cougars had a 4-3 start to their most recent campaign, including a 20-3 road win against Blake on opening day, plus a 13-4 road win over Seneca Valley and a 21-run shutout against Gaithersburg at home. After this start, Quince Orchard played six of their last seven games on the road, en route to a solid 10-5 regular season record. Despite this, QO would fall to the 9-9 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons, who were coming off a 27-23 first round win over Whitman. Despite the untimely ending to their 2025 year, the Cougars will enter this season without just two members of last year’s campaign, as they look to win their first playoff game since 2024, or potentially, their first state semifinals since 1993. 8. Clarksburg The Coyotes had an impressive regular season campaign, scoring double-digit runs in ten games while surpassing the 20 run mark in three, in a season where the team finished 13-2. Despite such strong play before the playoffs, Clarksburg dropped their first game of postseason play in a 4-3 loss to the Urbana Hawks from Frederick County. After having success in the regular season, the team will lose Sommer Witz to Shepherd University and Gabby Encinas to Frostburg State. The remaining athletes will have a couple of big holes to fill before kicking off their season at home against Churchill. 9. Richard Montgomery To kick off last season, the Rockets opened with a 5-0 record that included four straight wins with over 16 runs scored. After the incredible start to their season, Richard Montgomery went on a 1-6 run that saw a 19-18 home loss against the Blair Blazers, a 23-0 win over Springbrook, which was immediately followed by a 17-run shutout loss to Clarksburg. Despite the rough patch, RM went on a four-game win streak to end their season 10-6. RM took down Einstein and Wheaton in the regional bracket, securing them the championship, before the Rockets fell to Northwest 15-3 in the state quarterfinals. 10. Blair Last Spring, the Blazers opened with a 9-6 home loss to the Churchill Bulldogs before going on a six game win streak, including a 15-0 win over Northwood and an incredible 19-18 victory on the road against Richard Montgomery. Blair slowed down a bit, finishing the regular season 11-5, but in their regional playoff games against Northwood and Laurel, the Blazers outscored the two 32-3 on the way to a regional championship. In the state bracket, their run was cut short in a 5-0 loss against Churchill, the second of the season. Additionally, this year’s team will be without an incredible nine athletes from last year’s squad, which could pose challenges for head coach Louis Hoelman, as the team looks to get back to the state semifinals for the first time in a decade.

The softball offseason is upon us, with awards and championships being handed out to the game’s most deserved winners and teams. In Montgomery County, several schools had great seasons, but these four stand out. They all won their regional titles and carried that success into state semifinals/finals appearances, with one making its first state title in program history. Here is a 2026 lookout for four of Montgomery County’s top softball teams. Churchill: After reaching the program’s first state championship, how do the Bulldogs look to continue that success? They were led by one of the best pitchers in the county in Maggie King, who won back-to-back MCPS Softball Player of the Year titles. Freshman catcher Kai-En Hsu was also a big contributor, as she led the team in RBIs, which earned her First-Team All Division honors. She was also impressive on the mound, being the No.2 starter behind King. Originally slated to start in center, she volunteered as catcher as it was a position of struggle early in the season. Her efforts of learning a new position took the Bulldogs to the “next level,” as head coach Andrew Sonnabend described it. Along with King, Churchill loses ⅔ of its outfield with Ceci Bernstein and Zoe Kospsidas departing. They also lose four-year varsity player and captain Natalie Gumagay, so her leadership and experience will certainly be missed. But Hsu returns for her sophomore year (will probably be the ace), as do rising seniors Leah Sonnabend and Jacqueline Le, who was an honorable mention for All-Division. Netah Shekel and Aysha Gilmetdinova are star basketball players who contributed to the softball team as freshman last year, and will be worth keeping an eye on. “I think that both of them, they can really show that they're not just basketball players who play softball, but indeed just athletes,” said coach Sonnabend. With the success of 2025 now a part of Churchill softball history, the Bulldogs will look to continue its ascent and add its first state championship banner. Damascus: The Swarmin’ Hornets made it all the way to the state semifinals in search of its fifth state title, but unfortunately fell to Stephen Decatur. The good news is that much of the production that was shown on the field returns as infielder Josie Hoffacker is the team’s lone departure. Though her contributions offensively and defensively will be missed, the return of All-County members Ana DiGiandomenico, Amaya Hammond, Brooke Sell, Katelynn Doyle, Kailyn Sheahin and Aislinn Sell (2A/3A Division Pitcher of the Year) will have Damascus in a good position to make another run. “We will look to build on our success by continuing much of what worked for us this year both offensively and defensively,” said head coach Liz Gall. “Additionally, we continue to emphasize having fun and growing our mental game while working hard to be successful.” That approach has so far worked as they have two regional championships, one county championship, and two state semifinal appearances in two years under Gall. Despite making the move to Class 3A, Liz Gall looks to return to the semifinals and beyond and deliver the Hornets’ its fifth state championship. Sherwood: After winning the state final last year, Sherwood once again had an outstanding regular season with hopes of making it a repeat. Though they fell just short of back-to-back titles, they remain a forced to be reckoned with as the eight time state champions are always a threat to go a major run. They do lose First Team All-MET infielder Keira Schultz, outfielders Avery Anderson and Rylie Friend, but do return Reagan Corb and Gabby Anderson who were All-Division honorees. In total they lose six seniors, but head coach Ashley Barber-Strunk looks for the returnees to take the next step in leadership. “It is now their time to lead, prove what they can do and come back to see what we are capable of.” Rising seniors along with Corb include Faith Goolsby, Sydney Gould, and Sophia Salcedo. “The goal is to build each day once the team is made and to just get better little by little and if we can do that, we can do anything!” Northwest: The Jaguars went on an incredible 14-0 run before losing their first game of the season. They won the regional title and county championship and made it to the Class 4A state semifinals before losing to Leonardtown. Senior Yasmin Qassis was recognized as the 4A West Division Player of the Year. Fellow seniors Aubrey Cammuso, Erin DeLand, and Callie Tomaszewski also got All-Division recognition. Despite the losses, Northwest does bring back star quality players including rising sophomore Nala Johnson who struck out over 100 batters in her freshman season. Ali Porter is back for catching duties so the battery will look to continue the success from last year. Both received All-Division honors. Outfielder Lucy McNulty is the other impact player who received All-Division recognition. The Jaguars will look to build on last year’s success and make a run to its second state championship victory.

Senior Claire Radford strikes out 16 in a complete game shutout, leading Leonardtown to a 5-0 win and the Class 4A softball title again! 🔥🥎

With the sun shining and bats ready, the Leonardtown Raiders stormed into the Girls 4A Softball State Championships this week with a win against the Churchill Bulldogs by 5-0! Leonardtown also finished with 15 strikeouts. What a showdown!

Whitman 11 Wootten 9

Whitman. 11 Woootten. 9

8 innings, Jackie Lee had 16 strikeouts countysports.zone/scores/view/vTMu38wtcj11Kck_hyrwB

Jackie Lee had 14 strikeouts, putting her over 150 strikeouts for the season! countysports.zone/scores/view/VhGbsnORPZWrxrI2qqG7p

Jackie Lee (QO) had 16 strikeouts and went 3-4 scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 7th. Melanie Maarec went 3-4, Sydney Richardson went 3-4, and key hits were had by Cate Hardwick and Nina Sayegh. countysports.zone/scores/view/j7v-iOsZmwIIZTx4Ocqwb

Asha Miller had a grand slam, Journei Whitehead had a three run homerun and Asha Miller had a complete game with 13 strikeouts. countysports.zone/scores/view/F4UH4-PRabprMBtZEYcEo

Jackie Lee had a 2 run home run and Madison Hunt had a 3 RBI single countysports.zone/scores/view/hYMclWVZ2keiADeZzAh4X

Asha Miller went 4-4 with 3 singles and a 2 run home run, Megan Cressy had 2 doubles, Emma Bossard had a double, and Kylie Parker had a hit in the 7th to drive in the winning run! countysports.zone/scores/view/m9XbPmUHcDCmmIjHJFtKB

Asha Miller had 2 singles and a home run, Megan Cressy had a triple and 2 singles, and Jackie Lee had a single and double with 4 RBIs. countysports.zone/scores/view/BbZQgBh1DcsH-Usb49zqO

Kylie Parker had a triple and Caeleigh Sewall had a double (both for QO). countysports.zone/scores/view/2iqZDMdNqJgYszW6dPFNU

BCC Barons stole the lead late and defeated Wootton High School 7-6 on Tuesday. The game was tied at six with BCC Barons batting in the top of the seventh. countysports.zone/scores/view/HlXFkSAZSOsPWHQ5Ckze2