Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Cards win three at Region II, one shy of State B
NR-S senior Katie Allmaras takes a crack at a pitch from Thompson pitcher Sydney Schwabe during the state qualifier game. The Cardinals came up short, losing 2-12 to the Tommies.
Carrington outfielder Bailey Ness reaches out in an attempt to catch the softball.
With a few clutch hits, pitches and grit, the Carrington softball team advanced the furthest in the postseason they ever have in their three years of existence as a program.
Starting from their inclusion in the South Sub-Region play-in game, the Cardinals went on to win a trio of games in the Region II Tournament, on the doorstep for State B Tournament qualification.
The Cards rolled past #5 seed Larimore 23-3 at City Park to begin the tournament on Thursday, May 16, setting up a Saturday matchup with north top seed Grafton in the quarterfinals.
And, as they did in 2023, CHS upset the Spoilers, 7-6, to move on to the semifinals and face the #2 South team, Thompson.
In the tilt with Grafton, the Cards got on top early, 2-0, before the Spoilers got the equalizers and made it 2-2. In the top of the fifth, a fatal miscue in the outfield off the bat of Calleigh Hewitt plated two runs for Carrington, and a Brynn Smith RBI single made it 5-2.
With the score 7-3 in the Spoilers' last at-bat, Hewitt, Carrington's starter in the circle, got in a big jam following a three-run double, but a pop out ended the contest and kept the Cards' season alive.
Two days later on Monday, CHS returned to Grafton, and had no luck on their side as the Tommies took an easy 17-0 win. They had no time to rest, as that forced an elimination game with the Pembina Co. North Grizzlies later that afternoon.
That contest would end up being the defining moment of the Cards' season, and featured heroic performances in big moments to keep their dreams of Jamestown afloat.
The Cards trailed the Grizzlies at 2-1 in their final at-bat, before Hewitt put her name in Carrington tournament lore with a dramatic game-tying home run to send the game to extra innings. In the eighth, Hewitt struck again with an RBI double after Maara Kutz scored on an error, and NR-S product Katie Allmaras brought home the third run of the frame with another double to bring Hewitt home.
With a spot at Trapper Lawrence Field in Jamestown on the line, the Cards ran into the Tommies for the second time, and fell in a 12-2 season-ending defeat.
For Thompson (18-9), Kya Hurst had three hits.
Allmaras provided the only offense with a two-run double. The Cardinals' season ended with a final overall record of 7-9.
