Cardinal Newman softball in familiar spot after losing championship series opener

If Cardinal Newman can take anything away from losing Game 1 of its best-of-3 SCISA softball championship series against Wilson Hall by a final of 10-8 on Monday, it’s that they’ve been in this position before.

Two years ago, the Cardinals were in the same position after Game 1 and rallied to win the series, positioning them as defending champions after COVID-19 erased most of the SCISA softball season last year.

They trailed by as many as five runs early, but fought back and had the tying run on second base when Kaytlin Greenwood’s deep fly to right field was caught just in front of the fence.

“It’s not over. It’s just one game,” Cardinal Newman coach Kevin Hogan said. “That game is behind us. Go win then we play at a neutral site place.”

The Cardinals (16-4-1) will look back on some wasted opportunities Monday. Lexi Stout went 4-for-4 to pace the 15-hit attack, but Cardinal Newman ended up leaving eight runners on base — six of them in scoring position.

They also had two runners thrown out at the plate by Barons center fielder Sullivan Jarecki. Cardinal Newman committed seven errors, as well, that led to three unearned runs.

Wilson Hall jumped to leads of 6-1, 9-4 and 10-5 before holding on. The bottom portion of the lineup did the bulk of the damage. Eighth-grader Kaylan Boudreau and Jarecki each collected two hits and drove in three runs apiece from the No. 7 and 8 spots in the lineup.

Wilson Hall did get a two-run home run from Amberly Way and a solo blast from Andi-Grace Wingate.

“When you are the away team, it’s important to try to score early,” Wilson Hall coach Teresa Alexander said. “You don’t have that last at bat, so you always know they have a chance. All the cushion you can get early on is a great thing.”

After trailing 10-5, Stout and Hannah Bostic drove in runs in the sixth with a double and single, respectively. Jasmine Hogan added an RBI double with two outs in the seventh before Greenwood just missed on being the hero.

Greenwood homered earlier in the game and had three hits.

“The hardest game of the series is the away game,” Alexander said. “I thought it was really important that we were able to dig out that win today. Of course, that does not mean the rest of the series will easy. We like where it puts us playing at home on Tuesday.”

Wingate picked up the win despite allowing four runs by pitching the final four innings. Allison Dulaney left after two innings for the Cardinals, and she took the loss.