Seneca Valley junior Magen Harris stood on her home field after facing Whitman on Saturday afternoon and summarized her pitching repertoire.
“I basically threw fastballs around the corner [and] different parts of the plate,” the right-hander said. “I tried some change ups, but that’s what they were hitting, so I stopped.”
Judging by her 11 strikeouts, Harris’ use of the change up was few and far between.
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Harris allowed just two hits during Seneca Valley’s 11-1, six-inning victory over Whitman. After the Vikings’ Syndey Gertzog singled to lead off the second, Whitman managed a lone infield single the rest of the game. Harris threw 63 of 95 pitches for strikes and consistently got ahead of the Viking batters, tossing a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 25 she faced.
“It definitely gives me a little bit of a confidence boost. I like getting ahead of them because once it gets to three [balls] and one [strike], it makes me kind of nervous,” Harris said. “I definitely pitch better when I’m ahead of a batter.”
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Harris and juniors Jen Arruda and Kinsey Gunn have pitched for Seneca (8-4) this season, but head coach Larry Raum said Harris is who the team will go with come playoff time. Arruda played her third game of the season at catcher Saturday and Gunn started at first base.
Harris gave herself an early lead, driving in standout shortstop Sydney Bankins with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and Seneca never looked back. After building a 5-0 lead, the Screaming Eagles pulled away with four runs in the fourth. Harris drove in two runs with a single, followed by Arruda’s two-run double.
Four Screaming Eagles recorded multiple hits, including three from Bankins and left fielder Mary Adkins. Second baseman Nicole Dorgan and Arruda each had two hits.
“Usually, if Sydney starts us off with a hit we just get rolling,” Arruda said, “and you just can’t stop our bats.”
Arruda entered Saturday’s contest batting .500 for the season. She has played multiple positions this year, but her arm strength made her move to catcher a valuable one for the Screaming Eagles.
“Very few people get on base against us, but when they were running, we weren’t throwing them out,” Raum said. “Jen can throw them out.”
Bankins led the team with a .546 batting average entering Saturday, and center fielder Halley Henry was hitting .528.
Seneca will travel to face Einstein at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday before a matchup with Germantown rival Northwest at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at NHS. The Screaming Eagles will conclude the regular season with homes games against Clarksburg on Friday and Wootton on Monday, May 9.
Whitman lost a make-up game against Northwest, 7-2, on Saturday morning in Bethesda.
