No. 1 Northern blanks No. 2 O'Connell 3-0 in softball headliner

Saturday's Clash of the Softball Titans went to Northern (Owings, Md.), which blanked Bishop O'Connell (Arlington, Va.) 3-0 in the biggest national showdown of the season.

Ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, Northern raised its record to 15-0 and its winning streak to 68 games. It also was the third consecutive victory over Virginia power Bishop O'Connell, ranked No. 2 in the country and which had a 35-game win streak snapped.

O'Connell's last loss was to Northern in 2012. It dropped to 19-1. Northern coach Rob Radford told MaxPreps, "That was a big-time win. O'Connell is a very good team. We played well. We've got to get ready for the (state) playoffs. No. 1 or 2 in the country is just icing on the cake, but it (a national championship) would be very special."

He added, "It takes a little bit of pressure off. Our kids will be a little more relaxed."

Standing tall for the winning Patriots was 5-foot-10 junior Jessica Cummings, who pitched a dominant one-hitter with 16 strikeouts and one walk while raising her record to 14-0. A line-drive single to right field in the sixth inning by Shannon Murphy deprived Cummings of a no-hitter.

"She was phenomenal," Radford said. "The key to her success was that she got ahead early (in the ball-strike count) and she was in charge. She's thrown a couple of perfect games and a bunch of no-hitters, but in terms of quality competition she had her best stuff today."

O'Connell coach Tommy Orndorff also was impressed with Cummings, who has committed to Penn State University. Cummings has struck out 209 in 91 innings and allowed just — get this — 10 hits. She has a 0.00 ERA.

Northern hasn't allowed a run all season and outscored opponents by a remarkable 120-0 count.

"Jessica looked great today," Orndorff said. "She looked better than last year. She threw very, very well."

His own pitcher, senior Tori Finucane, struck out 11, yielded just three hits and one walk. The University of Missouri signee - similar to Cummings - was her state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012 and was a MaxPreps All-American.

Northern scored an unearned run off Finucane in the fourth inning, then clinched the big victory in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run single to right field by Kristina Lozupone.

Orndorff called it "a big game, big crowd. Today they were the best team that we've played."

Asked about the national rivalry his Knights have formed with Northern, Orndorff laughed, "To have a rivalry we've got to win one of these."

His team came into the game averaging more than 10 runs per game while outscoring its opponent 239-8.

O'Connell is hitting .384 as a team and has blasted 25 home runs, including seven along with a team-high 39 RBI from senior catcher Jillian Ferraro. Finucane is now hitting a team best .564. Five of her teammates are hitting better than .400.: Shannon Murphy (.490), Amanda Ehlers (.424), Ferero (.452), Olivia Giaquinto (.404) and Erin Sweeney (.403).

None of that caused Cummings to flinch. She walked just one to go along with 16 strikeouts.

Other hits for Northern came from senior Erin Adams and sophomore Sarah Bennett. Adams, Julie Keleti and Kayla Grantham all scored runs.

On the season, freshman Kassidy Cross is the leading hitter at .483 followed by Adams (.473) and Kierstie Schaefer (.350), who leads the team with 20 RBI.

Beyond superior pitching and timely hitting, Northern has made just one error all season. That combination might explain while the team is No. 1 in the nation.