From The Sun's Katherine Dunn:

Talk about parity. You can barely get a piece of tissue paper between any of the top five field hockey teams in Baltimore County.

Every game played between Catonsville, No. 10 Towson, No. 11 Loch Raven, No. 13 Hereford and Dulaney has been decided by a single goal or gone to a shootout.

Of the nine games these teams have played against each other, including two non-league games, six ended in one-goal decisions and three went to penalty-stroke shootouts with one ending in a tie after one round of strokes.

“I’m telling you this county, it’s hopping,” said Towson coach Holly West. “It’s good. It’s nice to see Loch Raven in the mix and Catonsville is doing great. It’s more competitive and it’s nice. You don’t get better playing weak teams; you get better playing good strong competition.”

Hereford, Dulaney and Towson have dominated the county since 2001. Not only have they won every county championship but no other team has even made the final. It’s possible that this year’s title game could have a new look.

Catonsville, which tied Dulaney for the title in 2000, is unbeaten in the county at 5-0. Towson and Loch Raven are close behind at 4-1. Hereford is 3-2 and defending champ Dulaney is 2-3.

Today’s games could clear up everything. If Catonsville beats Hereford and Towson beats Loch Raven, the winners would all but clinch their berths in the final. Any other outcome would complicate things at least until Friday — when Catonsville plays host to Loch Raven — or maybe longer.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a tie for second. That’s just the way the season’s going and we’ll just wait to sort out the tie-breaker if that happens.