Although the Cardinal Huskies’ softball team’s four-run lead evaporated in the top of the seventh inning against Faiport Hirding, they were still in the game deadlocked in a 19-19 tie. Freshman catcher Adelyn Grant ended it when she blasted a walk-off two-run home run to left field, clinching a 21-19 victory for the Huskies last Saturday afternoon in Middlefield.
“That is how that entire game was, it was a roller coaster effect,” said Coach Haley Adams.” The last three games we have had, we have gotten down pretty early. We knew we were in the heart of our order and we knew if we could just get on base, we knew that the middle of the lineup would really produce for us. It was not going to just take one swing in the contest but obviously Adelyn proved me wrong in that instance.”
Entering the seventh inning, Cardinal (3-2, 1-1) held a 19-15 advantage and freshman pitcher Natalie Soltis recorded two outs against the first two Skipper batters. Soltis allowed the next two batters to reach base and junior catcher Natalie Phillips, who had already crushed two home runs in the game, hit a three-run home run to left field, trimming Cardinal’s advantage to 19-18.
The Skippers continued their rally with two more base hits, including the game-tying single from freshman shortstop Taylor Prioresche.
The four-year coach acknowledged that Fairport Harding’s comeback stunned her team but added that her younger players have already thrived in moments like these.
“It did give the momentum back to Fairport but our coaching staff just instilled in our girls that it is never over until that last pitch is thrown and that last out is called and they have proven that to us time and time again,” she added.
Sophomore first baseman Maggie Grant led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to center field and her younger sister, Adelyn, brought her home by delivering the walk-off two-run home run.
“Adelyn said ‘As soon as I hit it, I thought to myself that it just felt so good,’ and she knew the moment she hit it that it was out,” Adams noted.
It marked the second straight victory for the Huskies and their third win over their last four games. Adams said after the thrilling win against Fairport Harding, it was safe to say that her team was the comeback kids.
“Our coaching staff joked around with these girls that if this is how their season is going to be and they are going to be a comeback team, it is going to be really fun to watch and just to put Cardinal back on the map,” she said.
The Skippers seemed to be in control at the beginning of the game by taking a 6-1 lead after the first two innings but Cardinal responded with an explosive third frame, scoring nine runs on eight hits.
In each of Cardinal’s last four games, they have been fueled by a big inning to overcome an early deficit.
According to Adams, the top of the Huskies’ lineup has set the tone and it has trickled down to the middle and bottom third of the order.
“The top of our lineup starts our momentum but as I have looked at it, when the top of the order gets started, they hand it over to the middle of the order and we really have gotten production from our eight and our nine-hole hitters,” she said.
It’s been an impressive showing from a Cardinal team that is dominated by underclassmen, fielding eight freshmen and two sophomores.
Adams said that when she first became head coach, she had her eye on the class of 2027 even when they were still in middle school. It took four years for that class to reach the high school ranks, but now that they are here, they are already making their mark.
In only five games, Cardinal not only has recorded a winning record but its victory against Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division rival Grand Valley last Wednesday marked the program’s CVC Valley Division victory since 2019.
“In the past two summer leagues they have actually won their conference championships and they are just competitive, and they are rubbing off onto the older girls as well,” Adams said. “There have been moments that have been hard as a coach, losing 22-2 in years past but now getting to be there with these freshmen and sophomores and watching them walk it off in the bottom of the seventh inning, we definitely have had to be very patient and it is starting to pay off.”
The Huskies fell to 3-3 (1-2) on the season when they lost 11-10 against CVC Valley Division rival Berkshire on Monday.
Following a pair of road games against CVC Valley Division foe Wickliffe on Tuesday and Kirtland on Wednesday, followed by a home contest against the Hornets on Thursday, Cardinal will host CVC rival Hawken in a crossover game on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
