John Carroll sophomore pitcher Emily Hildt allowed only two hits and the visiting Patriots built a big early lead on the way to a 7-3 victory over host Mount de Sales in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference semifinals.

Thursday’s win advances the third-seeded Patriots (12-6) to the championship game on Tuesday against top-seeded Archbishop Spalding. No. 2 seed Mount de Sales ended its season with a 16-9 mark.

Hildt allowed a leadoff double to Olivia Ross in the first inning and a single to Ross in the sixth. She struck out five and walked only one, relying on her drop ball for most of the outs, including nine on ground balls.

“Definitely my drop ball, it’s been a tough pitch for me all season and I’m finally on it so I’m very happy about that and my curve,” Hildt said.

“She did an excellent job,” John Carroll coach Sherry Hudson said. “She hit her spots with great pitches. The biggest thing was her location and she mixed it up. Emily is sophomore and she had to keep her composure to handle this game and she did a great job.”

Hildt pitched in the first of two losses to Mount de Sales during the regular season, and her defense let her down. This time, it was the Sailors who had the defensive hiccups as the Patriots scored four runs in the first inning after a leadoff opposite-field double by Savannah Claycomb.

Claycomb and Mia Anderson, who bunted for a single, both scored on a Hildt’s sacrifice fly and an error. Two more errors contributed to two more runs.

“We’ve been having close, close games all season, so it feels good to finally be ahead,” Hildt said.

“You can’t give a good team like that runs, especially with a big pitcher like that,” Mount de Sales coach Pete Waskiewicz said. “Sherry puts a good team together and they have been good for a long time, and you know that she is going to take advantage of every mistake that you are going to make.”

Ross scored on a sacrifice fly by Kat Owings in the first, but the Patriots got one back in the top of the second after Kathryn Hemphill led off with a single and scored.

The Sailors cut the lead to three in the bottom of the fourth inning, and it could have been worse.

Leadoff batter Owings was robbed of a hit on a diving play on a grounder by second baseman Anderson. Vanessa Gilman walked, Olivia Berger reached on a error and Gilman scored on Olivia Hastings’ sacrifice fly.

John Carroll added an insurance run in the fifth after a one-out double by Hildt and a run-scoring single by Kallissa Coats and another in the sixth on an RBI double by Claycomb.

Mount de Sales pitchers Brooke Fuhr and Reese Barchanowicz combined to allow five hits, but they came at key times for the Patriots.

The Sailors’ biggest threat came in the sixth inning after Ross singled and Owings was hit by a pitch. Ross scored on a fielders’ choice by Berger, but the inning ended on a deep flyout by Hastings.

After the leadoff batter reached on an error in the seventh, Hildt retired the final three and the Patriots got their redemption.

“It’s hard to beat a team three times in one year and they came back and they were raring and they’ve been there before,” Waskiewicz said. “I feel bad for my seniors, but our future looks pretty bright from what we got remaining on the team.

“The other games [against John Carroll], they made mistakes and we capitalized on them, and today we made the mistakes and they capitalized on them. Our Achilles heel this year is we’ve been giving up a big inning, but we are young and we’ll learn.”

John Carroll faced Spalding twice during the regular season, losing 1-0 at home and 3-1 at Spalding. Hildt, who pitched in the second game, is hoping to get another chance.

“It feels very good because we’ve had some rough patches this year, and it just feels very good to be able to come together and perform as the team we are supposed to be playing as,” she said.

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