Spalding reclaims its throne | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

It was business as usual for the Archbishop Spalding softball team.

The Cavaliers captured their fifth IAAM A Conference title since 2000 with a 6-0 victory over the Institute of Notre Dame Sunday at Harford Community College.

"The cool thing about Spalding athletics and Spalding softball is there's an expectation to win," said Spalding coach Paul O'Brien. "That helps carry them, so when they win, it's not too high, and when we lose, it's not too low."

The Cavaliers only lost once all season, to defending 3A state champion Huntingtown. They won 17 times, due in large part to the right arm of ace Elaine Nescio.

The junior was sharp yesterday, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. She allowed just two baserunners and struck out 11 to cap off a remarkable season.

"It's what I've seen from her all year," O'Brien said. "My stomach started unclenching when we got our third run. Elaine is so good at protecting that lead. She's one of the elite ones. She's pulled us through this entire season. Today is just simply one example of what I've had the pleasure of seeing day in and day out."

Nescio mixed a deceptive changeup in with a blazing fastball, keeping Indians batters guessing.

"My changeup is my bread-and-butter pitch," Nescio said. "It's what I've worked on since I was 7 years old when I started pitching in fast-pitch softball. It keeps the hitters off-balance. I like to throw it all the time. I'll throw it with a full count. I'll throw it at 3-0. I'll throw it with 0-2. It doesn't really matter."

She used it to record last-out strikeouts in the first, second, third and fifth innings.

"I've been around the Spalding tradition since I was little, reading about all the girls who came through," Nescio said. "It's nice to be a part of that and continue it."

Nescio also struck out the side in order in the second inning (on 12 pitches) and in the fifth inning (on 13).

"She's tough to face," said IND coach Greg Ehrman. "During the season, we managed to score some runs off her the first time we played her. But she shut us down in the last two."

The Cavaliers had won the previous two meetings with the Indians, 4-3 and 5-0.

The Spalding offense wasted little time staking Nescio to a lead, breaking through against IND starter Kayla Mohr with a two-out rally in the first inning.

No. 3 hitter Meghan Van Meter hit a double to left field, and she scored on Jennifer Rindone's RBI single.

Rindone extended the lead in the third inning, driving home catcher Andrea Catucci with a double.

"We worked really hard this year," Rindone said. "So it was good that it all paid off. We knew we had to play hard today, and everyone did ... It's good to know that we have a strong pitcher backing us up."

The Cavaliers put the game out of reach in the fifth, as the first four batters reached base.

Catucci led off with a single, and she scurried home on Delaney Bell's RBI triple. Van Meter hit a ball through IND third baseman Jordan Driscoll's legs to bring home Bell.

After Rindone, who went 3-for-3, singled to move Van Meter to second, Mohr committed an error, allowing the two to advance a base. Two batters later, Nescio stepped to the plate and executed a squeeze bunt to drive home the sixth run.

"Today, everybody hit extremely well again," Nescio said. "Our defense was phenomenal. Andrea was great behind the plate, and I pitched well. Everything just kind of fell right into place."

Spalding seniors Bell, Van Meter and Casey O'Neill end their careers as champions, living up to the legacy left before them by past stars.

"It's great to see them go out on top," O'Brien said. "They're so deserving of it. They've worked hard. They're kind of unsung in a lot of ways. The class before them had a lot of superstars like (Stephanie) Weigman and (Sloane) Van Meter. These are the ones that were kind of behind that class, but ... this is one of the best senior classes I've ever coached."

Institute of Notre Dame (10-14) 000 000 0 - 0 1 4

Archbishop Spalding (17-1) 102 030 x - 6 7 0

WP: Nescio (15-1). LP: Mohr. 2B: AS - Van Meter, Rindone. 3B: AS - Bell. RBI: AS- Rindone 2, Bell, Nescio.