By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Only getting half the job done wasn’t good enough for William Carey Tuesday in the NAIA Softball Opening Round Regional.
Needing to win two games to keep their season alive, the Crusaders only won one, falling to College of Idaho for the second straight day, this time in an elimination game.
WCU stayed alive in its first game of the day, defeating William Woods (Mo.) 5-0, but could not take advantage of numerous scoring opportunities in the second game, a 1-0 loss to COI at Joseph and Mary Fail Field.
“It’s pretty simple. If you don’t score, you don’t win,” said Crusaders coach Craig Fletcher.
The outcome ended Carey’s season at 37-16. College of Idaho (40-15) will play tournament top-seed Vanguard (Cal.) at 11 a.m. in the championship round.
The Lions advanced by winning Tuesday’s opener 7-5 over COI and can move on to the NAIA Softball World Series at Springfield, Mo. with a win. If the Yotes win, the two teams will play a winner-take-all championship game immediately afterward.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, will lament what might have been if they could have just gotten one clutch hit in any of four golden opportunities in the second game.
Things went according to plan for William Carey in their first game of the day, against fourth-seeded William Woods. The Crusaders jumped on the Owls for two runs in the bottom of the first inning and two more in the second.
Junior Kristen Sexton started what proved to be a big day at the plate with an opposite-field single to left field to lead off the home half of the first. She was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by senior Harli Crow, with Crow taking second on the throw to the plate.
Senior Kaitlyn Thompson drove in the second run of the inning on a throwing error.
In the second, junior Mary Blair Owen smacked a one-out double to right field and scored on a single by senior Caitlyn Castille, who moved to third on a single by Sexton and scored on a passed ball.
That was more than enough help for freshman left-hander Haley Nations, who retired the first 10 batters she faced, then got a double play to get out of trouble after the Owls got back-to-back singles in the fourth.
“I came out focused from the get-go,” said Nations. “I think we all were ready to play today. The coaches just told us it was all or nothing today, and we knew what we had to do.”
It was the start of a phenomenal day for the Southern State Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, who allowed just one run and seven hits in 11 innings of work over the two games.
“She’s a gamer,” said Fletcher. “She’s been in tough situations all year. Today, she bowed her neck. As a freshman, she’s exciting to watch.”
Nations held the Owls to just three hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter. Carey added a run in the fifth on a leadoff home run by Crow.
“It was big to get us going,” said Crow on her first-inning RBI. “It set the tone for the game to give us a little momentum going forward.
“I’ve wanted to hit a home run here since my freshman year. My goal was to hit one out at home, because our field is so big. It felt real good.”
Sophomore Lindsey Johnson came in to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, giving a hint to Fletcher’s intention to send Nations back out to face College of Idaho.
As was the case on Monday, the Crusaders lost the coin flip for home-field advantage in the elimination game, and Carey also had to face their nemesis from Monday, Yotes’ left-hander Colette Robert.
And COI wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. After not walking a batter against William Woods, Nations surrendered a leadoff pass to Haley Loffer. A stolen base and an error put Loffer at third and she came home on a groundout to shortstop.
“A leadoff walk, an error and they scored,” said Fletcher. “I never would have thought that would stand up, but it did.”
It did because Robert summoned big pitches when she needed them.
In the third inning, the Crusaders had runners at second and third with none out after sophomore Maranda Busby doubled and Sexton singled to open the inning.
After a strikeout, Crow hit a sharp grounder to third for an infield single to load the bases, but Busby was unable to score, and Robert got a pop foul and a groundout to first to get out of the jam.
In the fifth, Carey again loaded the bases, when Busby and Sexton opened the inning with singles, but were unable to score. In the sixth, the Crusaders got runners to second and third, but again failed to score.
For the day, Sexton was 5 of 7 for Carey out of the leadoff spot in the order.
For her part, Nations kept Carey in the game with some brinksmanship of her own, striking out the last two batters in the third after the Yotes loaded the bases with a walk and two singles with one out.
COI got runners to second and third in the fourth but couldn’t score and got a runner to third in the fifth, but Nations got out of trouble unscathed.
In the seventh, Robert got two quick outs, but the Crusaders got singles by sophomore Anna Kennedy and Thompson, then a walk to senior Macy Moak – after all three batters fell behind 0-2.
But Robert got a comebacker for the final out to keep Carey scoreless and nail down the victory.
“I don’t know what the exact numbers were, but I know we were at least 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position,” said Fletcher. “You won’t win many games that way. You look at the scoreboard. We outhit them and I think we outpitched them.
“Bottom line, we didn’t get it done when we had the chance.”
Carey Softball Linescore
NAIA Opening Round Regional
Tuesday at Joseph and Mary Fail Field
Game 4
William Carey 5, William Woods (Mo.) 0
WWC 000 000 0 – 0 3 2
WCU 220 010 x – 5 7 1
WILLIAM WOODS (23-27): Ari Arnold 1B; Emma Walker 1B; Celeste Sermeno 1B. LP – Brittany Roady (14-10) 7 Ks.
WILLIAM CAREY (37-15): Kristen Sexton 2 1B; Harli Crow HR (solo), 1B; Mary Blair Owen 2B; Caitlyn Castille 1B. WP – Haley Nations (15-6). Also pitching – Lindsey Johnson.
Game 5
College of Idaho 1, William Carey 0
WCU 000 000 0 – 0 9 1
COI 100 000 x – 1 4 1
WILLIAM CAREY (37-16): Kristen Sexton 3 1B; Harli Crow 2 1B; Kaitlyn Thompson 1B; Maranda Busby 2B, 1B. LP – Haley Nations (15-7).
COLLEGE OF IDAHO (40-15): Haley Loffer 1B; Kylie Smith 1B; Delaney Atkins 1B; Hannah McNerney 1B. WP – Colette Robert (23-6).
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
