For Joni Ridgell and her husband, Saturday, Sept. 12, was an ordinary grocery day. Sunday turned out to be worth $50,000.
The couple from California in St. Mary’s County picked up a Powerball ticket that Saturday at the Walmart at 45485 Miramar Way in California, the way they do every week.
“We were grocery shopping, just like we do every Saturday,” said Ridgell, a graphic designer. “And on our list every time is a jackpot game ticket – Powerball, Mega Millions or Multi-Match.”
The next morning, she opened her Lottery app to check the results of the Saturday night drawing. The Sept. 12 winning numbers were 14, 16, 23, 58 and 69, with a Powerball of 3. Her ticket matched four of the white balls plus the red Power Ball. That’s Powerball’s third-tier prize, worth $50,000, and the odds of hitting it are about 1 in 913,129.
“I didn’t believe it when I saw the matching numbers. I just let out a shout,” she said. The shout brought her husband running.
“I couldn’t put many words together when he came in,” she said. “I just held out the ticket and managed to say, ‘Look at this!'”
The couple claimed the prize at Maryland Lottery headquarters about a week and a half later. They plan to put the money toward retirement.
“This definitely moves us ahead of the schedule we’d put together,” Ridgell said. “Way ahead.”
The win is the latest in a string of $50,000 Powerball prizes in the region. Earlier this month, an Annapolis scuba diver claimed a prize at the same tier. Powerball’s odds for Maryland players haven’t changed despite the game’s international expansion this summer.
