Guilford Park football won its first playoff game ever on Friday. The Panthers faced Chopticon High School in the 3A regional quarterfinals as one of two Howard County teams in the 3A South bracket. Guilford Park scored early and often, scoring their second most points of the season with 48. Their 56 against Hammond on Sept. 12 remains the program record. Chopticon struggled to get anything going for their side. The Braves posted a 2-7 regular season record and had offensive woes all season long. They did look to show improvement after gaining some momentum in the final game of the season. Against La Plata High School, they scored a season high 33 points, almost double their previous high of 17. QB A’Yar Reed-Wright ‘27 started the scoring early with a 46 yard pass to WR Andrew Adams. Adams broke through three Chopticon players to set up the game’s first touchdown. Reed-Wright ended the regular season with 1,290 passing yards and 12 passing touchdowns. RB Tyler Lee ‘27 led the county in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, recording 1,712 and 28, respectively. He had multiple key runs against Chopticon to help put the game out of reach early for the Braves. Head Coach Tom Montag recently told WTOP News about the significance of Lee being “dominant” every week and generating consistent offense. The Panthers defense seems to have saved their best for last. In their last two games against Long Reach and Chopticon, Guilford Park recorded its first two shutouts of the season. They had never kept a team scoreless in the prior 18 games as a program. In their first playoff game as a program last season, Guilford Park lost 35-6 to Oxon Hill High School, ending the 2024 season with a three game losing streak. Guilford Park will face Stephen Decatur High School this week for the regional semifinals. Stephen Decatur defeated Reservoir 42-12 in the quarterfinals and are firing on all cylinders now. After losing the first game of the season to Wicomio in a close 19-12 finish, the Seahawks have won eight straight games. They have only allowed more than 14 points in two of them. Guilford Park will face their greatest test of the season in a bid to stay undefeated and push forward for their first regional crown over the next two weeks.
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1985 was the last time that Chopticon softball got to hoist a state championship trophy. After a 40-year drought and two chances at the title in the past 10 years, this year's team ended their drought, beating Sherwood in the Class 3A title 5-3. "It was awesome," said senior pitcher Carrie Hayden. "Obviously, winning and accomplishing that after losing in 2022, it was great." Over the last decade, Chopticon had the chance to win the 3A title in 2016 and 2022 but fell short both times. This season, Chopticon finished with a 21-2 record, both losses coming to Leonardtown. When the opportunity came this season to play in the 3A title game, emotions were high, but many saw the chance to win. "I was really excited when we were going into that game," said senior catcher Cassie Wolfe. "I had a pretty good feeling that it was our year. " The Braves gained a two 2-0 lead early on thanks to Hayden ripping an RBI triple, her first of two on the night. As the innings continued to progress, Chopticon extended their lead, which led to the 5-3 win, the first championship win for Head Coach Kevin Cioppa. According to the players, much of the team's success this year comes from the strong bond they have formed throughout the years. Many of them have been playing travel ball since they were eight, which has helped them form long-lasting friendships and strong chemistry on the field. "I think we had a really, like, tight-knit group this year, and there wasn't a lot of drama between our girls," said Wolfe. "I mean, we all got along, and I think that really helped, like, the strength of the team."
The Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) has 14 teams, but three stood out this past softball season: Huntingtown, Chopticon, and Leonardtown. All three schools captured their respective class titles in May. Huntingtown Wins Class 2A Title 3-2 vs. Stephen Decatur After losing 4-2 to Rising Sun in the 2A title game in 2024, Huntingtown had the opportunity to redeem themselves against Stephen Decatur on the same stage and did so, beating them 3-2. "After losing last year, and just coming back and winning, it feels great," said senior pitcher Jordyn Greever. Greever threw a complete game, even managing to escape a bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning to help her team win. After her performance, head coach Mike Johnson credited Greever, calling her the best pitcher in the state of Maryland. "I've been able to watch Jordan now for four years, progressively work harder and harder and harder to get to this point," voiced Johnson. This was the first time the Hurricanes had won the state title since 2019. It was also Johnson's sixth title with Huntingtown and tenth overall in Maryland. Chopticon Wins First State Title In 40 Years Chopticon had not won a state title in 40 years. However, their 5-3 win against Sherwood changed history. "I feel like it hasn't hit me, like how crazy it is," exclaimed senior pitcher Carrie Hayden. "The fact that it literally has been 40 years since we've won, and that we did win, like I don't think it's like, set in yet like how big of a deal it is." Throughout the season, the Braves only lost two games, both to Leonardtown. But those two losses helped the team strengthen its bond on the field and grow closer to one another. Chopticon had two chances within the last ten years to win the 3A title in 2016 and 2022, but fell short both times. When the opportunity came this season to return to the same stage, they dominated, giving Head Coach Kevin Cioppa his first state championship. Leonardtown Wins 4A Title Two Years In A Row For the second year in a row, Leonardtown softball won the Class 4A title, this time against Winston Churchill 5-0. This season, all of the Raiders rosters returned but one player, which benefited Head Coach Kim Woodburn and fueled the team's goal to become back-to-back state champions. "They worked really hard all year to make sure that happened, or I should say all season," stated Woodburn. One of those returners was senior pitcher Claire Radford, who finished her season and career at Leonardtown with over 500 career strikeouts and a 0.71 ERA. In the 4A title game, she threw a complete game, allowing only two hits and adding an RBI single to help seal the shutout win. "I think I push myself even harder to make sure that I was able to improve on what I had put into last year," Radford stated in regards to this season. The Maryland softball player of the year is taking her talents to the University of South Carolina-Aiken and credits Leonardtown for helping her grow into the player she is. "They definitely gave me a lot of confidence," said Radford. Conclusion Taking three out of the four state titles is rare for a conference to do, but that shows how competitive SMAC is. Many athletes across SMAC have played travel ball together, which helps gain a sense of familiarity within the conference and teams. Chopticon players Brooke Colliflower, Cassidy Wolfe, and Cioppa all emphasized how the success within each team, alongside the close games and competitiveness, add to that reputation within the conference. “I think that the SMAC conference is one of the best conferences in the state, and I think it has been for a long time,” said Cioppa.
On the afternoon of May 23, the one-seeded Sherwood Warriors matched up against the three-seed, the Chopticon Braves, in the MPSSAA 3A Baseball State Championship. In the semi-finals, Sherwood shut out the five-seed Chesapeake Cougars 4-0, while Chopticon took down the seven-seeded Oakdale Bears 4-1. Neither team had much action in the first inning, but the Braves opened the scoring in this match-up in the top of the second. Following a leadoff single by Ryan Welch, catcher Trace Haggard smacked a fly ball into left field to drive in the first run. In the bottom half, Sherwood answered Calum Jagannathan singled to lead off the inning, and pinch runner Carter Sweeney-Strawberry tied the game, scoring on a passed ball. In the bottom of the third, Sherwood picked up the lead. Jacob Bagania fought for a leadoff walk after a six-pitch at bat. After stealing second and third, and after a Ty Hames walk and stolen base, Jaiden Sarita picked up his first hit and first two RBI of the day on a line drive single into center field, giving Sherwood a 3-1 lead. To start off the offense in the next inning, Cam Calandro singled on a ground ball into center field, stole second base, and scored on a single by Jacob Bagania in the next at bat. Ryan Rey continued the offense for the Warriors in the inning, driving in Bagania on a single after he stole a base. After advancing to third on a single by Ty Hames, Rey scored Sherwood’s sixth run on a sacrifice fly out to left field by Jaiden Sarita. In the top of the fifth, Maverick Trueman and Kody Adkins singled and Noah Pessagno walked to load the bases with no outs. Logan Carver was walked, and Chopticon scored their second run. During the following at bat, Ryan Welch reached on an error by Sherwood’s third baseman Jacob Bender, and the Braves scored again with no outs. However, that would be the end of the scoring that inning, as three runners were stranded on base to end the inning. During the bottom half, Connor Flickinger doubled on a fly ball to deep left field with two outs, and pinch hitter Michael Cheng drove him in on a hard ground ball single into left field. Down by four runs, Chopticon had runners on the corners with two outs. Logan Carver stepped up to the plate, and destroyed a ball over 300 feet down the right field line, but the ball curved within feet of the foul pole, and proved to be just a long strike down the line, and the Braves were unable to score in the inning. Sherwood was able to tack one more on the board in the bottom half, as Ty Hames led off the inning with a double on a fly ball off the right field wall. Jaiden Sarita followed that up with his second hit of the day, a single on a line drive into center field, driving in his fourth RBI of the day. That would be the end of the scoring in this match up, and the Sherwood Warriors won the 3A baseball state championship 8-3. Jason Selis earned the win for the Warriors, going 4.0 innings on 70 pitches. The starter gave up three earned runs on six hits while picking up five strikeouts. For the Braves, Logan Carver was tagged with the loss. The Penn State York commit went 3.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits and four walks while picking up five strikeouts in the outing. Congratulations to both teams for reaching this momentous game.
Jaiden Sarita’s 2-hit, 4-RBI performance power Sherwood to the 3A state baseball championship — the program’s fourth title in five years and sixth overall. ⚾️🔥
Michael Cheng drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the fifth for Sherwood, they now lead 7-3 over Chopticon with two innings to play.
Overtime
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