Photo courtesy of Leonardtown boys' soccer Instagram. Friday night in Baltimore served as the culmination of the highest competitive form of Maryland high school soccer — the action, though not high scoring, delivered on its promise of being entertaining. It took until second half action, but it was Leonardtown’s Noah Kowalko that sealed the deal with a clutch header, giving the Ospreys the 1-0 victory. Whitman hadn’t been shut out since back in October, and the defeat ended its six-game win streak. Leonardtown has now captured its third 4A title in four years. The first half began with Leonardtown dominating both possession and time in the attacking end of the field. Many of Whitman’s cross attempts were easily fended off by the back line, who were exceptionally patient and executed counterattacks well. A number of overlapping defenders created confusion for the Vikings on breakouts. In the 12th minute, the Ospreys earned their best chance of the match, as a through ball down the left side found the boots of a streaking winger. With a defender on him, he pinged the ball to an uncovered attacker in the center of the pitch, but the point-blank shot from 10 yards out went straight into the hands of Whitman’s alert keeper, Ziggy Powell. Whitman’s strategy as it pertained to counterattacking was not the same methodical, possession-focused back line passing. Rather, Powell worked the ball to his wingbacks immediately, not giving Leonardtown any chance to press or force mistakes deep in Vikings territory. But that backfired occasionally, with Whitman’s boot-and-chase strategy often just finding the feet of Leonardtown’s back line. And while things were out of danger, there were no true attacking prospects to be found. Both teams’ play in the first half could be best described as conservative. Both formations favored defense, and long balls to lone strikers remained the only viable option for potential chances. Whitman’s back line did what it ultimately needed to do, and at the end of the first half, the score was still knotted, 0-0. The lone goal came nearly 20 minutes into the second half. A turnover in Whitman’s own end led to the ball being sprayed out to the right side of the field, near the corner. From there, a line-drive cross from Charlie Watts found the wide open head of Kowalko in the middle of the pitch. Uncovered, he swung his head around to the left and nailed the top-left corner of the net, where Powell had no chance to contest it. The final 20 minutes of play saw Whitman enter desperation mode, needing a goal to save its season and give it hope for a title. A free kick roughly 25 yards out was blocked by the Leonardtown wall with 19 minutes left. Just a few minutes later, another shot was blocked in a similar fashion by the Ospreys’ striker, who had retreated all the way back to assist in the defensive efforts. Ultimately, Leonardtown was able to cast aside and boot away any attacking opportunities for the remainder of the game — and earned yet another state title on an undefeated 2025 campaign.
Feed
Posts and game recaps tagged to this school.
Leonardtown Raiders take the win 1–0 with a clutch header by Noah Kowalko!
The Raiders came out strong and defeated Severna Park 3–1 to bring the championship back home! 🎉🏑
PHHS wins 7-6 in PK's. O-O at Full time.
The set scores were: 25-18, 25-8, 25-21. Broadneck Stats from game: Barrett Bolter- 24 service points, 7 aces, 11 assists, 6 digs Sydney Lawrence- 19 service points , 2 aces, 3 kills, 17 assists, 11 digs Anna graves- 14 kills, 9 digs Camryn Bedell- 5 service points, 1 ace, 8 kills, 9 digs -Coach Carrie Olish
Game moved to Oct 13
The Cavaliers had a gritty contest against a very good and young Leonardtown team.
Leonardtown softball had been one of the top teams in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference (SMAC) all season. With only one loss to Huntingtown, they captured the SMAC title and the Class 4A title for consecutive years. "Last year was not an expected experience, and that is something that they shock themselves with," said Head Coach Kim Woodburn. "They had that desire to continue and to reach for those same goals again, and they worked really hard all year to make sure that that happened." This year, Woodburn had all but one player return on her roster to make all those milestones happen. One of those returners was MaxPreps' Maryland softball player of the year, Claire Radford. The senior pitcher has been a part of the Leonardtown softball program all four years. When she first began with the team, she started at shortstop but was actively pitching then. It was not until the senior pitcher quit that she realized the opportunity had opened. "I kind of had to step up towards the end of my freshman year and finish out the season pitching-wise," she explained. Radford began to see growth within herself while pitching freshman year. That growth continued to show during her time at Leonardtown. During her junior year, she hit 200 career strikeouts, even throwing a five-inning perfect game in the 2024 Class 4A title game against Eleanor Roosevelt. During the 4A title game this year, Radford added to her resume, tallying 16 strikeouts and only allowing two hits. She finished her senior season with a 0.71 ERA and more than 500 career strikeouts to end her career at Leonardtown. "I'm just really proud of myself for being able to show that I can… still make a difference in the Leonardtown program, and even in just SMAC," Radford says. Radford is heading to the University of South Carolina-Aiken in the fall and is looking forward to growing as a pitcher.
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.
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!
Leonardtown was down 6 to 4 in the top of the seventh. Lindsay Hunter hit a three run home run to take the lead.
https://twitter.com/chs_smcps/status/1878212291562221601
Football Action throughout the 2024 Season https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo31RhIu4lw&list=PLmWqfzKzrHuETk_6pjFN-WJA9zCo_2gJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdwIYTgkKiE
Leonardtown delivers an absolutely stunning performance in the softball championship! They secure a remarkable 14-0 win in just 5 innings, playing a perfect game!
https://twitter.com/ltown_softball/status/1794179582083686643?s=46&t=mU2vVVveIZP_9RF-FZxkrA&mx=2
The 2024 MPSSAA Baseball Championships kickoff Friday night with the Class 4A title game, followed by 1A, 2A and 3A crowns being given out on Saturday. Walt Whitman is the only top-seeded team to make it to Regency Furniture Stadium this season as upsets ran wild in the state semifinal rounds. Out of the 12 teams given seeds 1-3 in each classification, only four of them advanced to the state championship games. None of the teams taking part in championship weekend made it to the finals last season, meaning new teams are guaranteed to take control in each classification. Chesapeake (AA), Glenelg and Brunswick are programs with rich championship history that are looking to return to the top, while Walt Whitman, Col. Zadok Magruder and Patterson Mill could all lift the state championship trophy for the first time. Check out the game pages for links to NFHS Network live streams of each championship game and stay tuned to CSZ Network for a recap of the weekend's events!
https://twitter.com/ltown_softball/status/1790170725229236400