Ashburn, Va. — No matter the level, the sport, or the number of years under your belt, winning a ball game is always exciting, and for Broad Run High School head softball coach Ed Steele, he’s now gotten to enjoy that excitement 500 times.
On March 21, in front of a home crowd in Ashburn, the Spartans erased a 4-1 deficit with a 5-run, 2-out rally in the sixth inning to come-from-behind to defeat Potomac Falls, 6-4, earning Steele his 500th career win.
“It’s sort of unreal,” Steele said. “It’s something I’ll think about after the season, but when you’re in the moment, you’re just worrying about winning the game; it just so happens that this win got me to 500.”
[adrotate banner=”58″]Most wins don’t come easy, but Steele and the Spartans really had to work for win No. 500.
Potomac Falls got on the board early when junior first baseman Emma Meehan drove in senior centerfielder Josephine Kuntz on a single in the first.
The Panthers would hold onto that lead until the bottom of the third when Broad Run junior catcher Gabriella Sultan drew a 2-out walk to score freshman centerfielder Annabelle Widding to even out the score at 1-1.
Potomac Falls retook the lead in the fifth when the Spartans’ defense started to break down. After junior catcher Makayla Reed drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, Meehan once again delivered an RBI single this time plating Kuntz and senior shortstop Sadie Geary.
In my 30 years at Broad Run, the principals, athletic directors, parents, and fellow coaches have always been here for the kids,” Steele said. “It has been an absolute joy to be a coach here.
—Broad Run head coach Ed Steele
Trailing 4-1 heading into the bottom half of the sixth, the Spartans weren’t going to let their fourth opportunity to get Steele his 500th win slip away as senior right fielder CJ Puterio drew a leadoff walk to get the rally started. Then sophomore reliever Samantha Zerfas sacrificed pinch runner Megan McNally to second, before freshman left fielder Anne Market singled to move McNally to third with one out.
Following the Market single, sophomore shortstop Abigail Mizelle hit a slow roller back to the pitcher, who turned to throw to first, as McNally took off for home and beat the tag to cut the deficit to 4-2.
With 2 outs, Widding singled in Market to cut the lead to 4-3 before sophomore third baseman Reagan Troy drove in the game-tying run on a double to left center.
Then, tied 4-4, Broad Run junior second baseman Alyah Hindi blooped a hustle double into shallow right to plate Troy before Sultan added another insurance run on a single up the middle to score Hindi.
“Early in the game, we weren’t hitting the ball as hard as we wanted, and we were hitting it right at people; they didn’t even have to take a step half the time,” Steele said. “As time went on, we moved up in the box and started hitting the ball harder, and we rose to the occasion.”
With a 6-4 lead, Zerfas headed back to the circle in relief in the seventh, where she quickly retired the first Panther on a ground out to second. After a single by Geary, Potomac Falls elected to sacrifice down two runs, moving Geary to second, while the Spartans took the second out of the inning at first.
With two outs, Potomac Falls sent their toughest hitter in Meehan to the plate, but Zerfas got her to fly out to second to end the game as the Spartans earned their first win of the season, and Steele earned the 500th win of his career.
“It’s a really fun group of kids to work with,” Steele said. “We don’t have all the spectacular talent like we’ve sometimes had in the past, but they like to work and they like to win together.”
Ed Steele took over the Broad Run softball program in 1992 and two years later, led the Spartans to their first VHSL State championship. Fast forward 30 years, Steele added state championships in 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and in 2022, Steele re-entered his name into the VHSL record books as one of just a handful of softball coaches to ever amass 500 career wins in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
While winning is great, Steele said it’s the support he has had and the memories he has made along the way that has made it all worth it.
“In my 30 years at Broad Run, the principals, athletic directors, parents, and fellow coaches have always been here for the kids,” Steele said. “It has been an absolute joy to be a coach here.”
Broad Run Batting
| Broad Run | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Abigail Mizelle | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Annabelle Widding | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Reagan Troy | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alyah Hindi | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Gabriella Sultan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Emily Wiersma | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Camryn Puterio | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan McNally | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Samantha Zerfas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anne Market | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 30 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
Potomac Falls Batting
| Potomac Falls | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Josephine Kuntz | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sadie Geary | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Makayla Reed | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Emma Meehan | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Emily Settle | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anna Vayo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bella Reuss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zariah Ricks | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rebecca Alvarado | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 25 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Broad Run Pitching
| Broad Run | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Emily Wiersma | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Samantha Zerfas (W) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Potomac Falls Pitching
| Potomac Falls | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Bella Reuss (L) | 6 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Totals | 9 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 |