Softball: Northern opens at No. Northern lost eight seniors from last year's team that finished 22-0 and won the program's fourth consecutive Maryland 3A championship, but the Patriots are not rebuilding. The gap between them and the rest of the area softball scene may be closer than last season - when Northern won its games by a combined score of 236-7 - but the Patriots retain enough talent to open the season atop The Post's Softball Top 10. "We've been planning for this season for two years," Northern Coach Robert Earl Radford said. I'm actually pretty excited to see how we do. Four younger sisters of graduated Northern stars populate this year's roster, including returning All-Met senior shortstop Lindsey Schmeiser and sophomore pitcher Jess Cummings, who should help fill the void left by departing All-Met Player of the Year Kaitlyn Schmeiser, who is now pitching at Maryland. Northern won each of its first three games this season by shutout, and Cummings, whom Radford said "could have started for any other team in the state last year but ours," already has 44 strikeouts through her first three starts. "Until somebody beats them," said O'Connell Coach Tommy Orndorff, whose No. 2 Knights will visit Northern on April 14, "they still have to be at the top."