The Cards and Blue Devils hooked up in the final game Thursday Night in the ACC Tournament at Ulmer Stadium, and it was #3 seed who escaped with the 4-3 win over #6 seed Louisville.
The loss ends the season for Louisville Softball.
It looked like it was going to be a short night for the Cards as they were the away team in this game, Duke got off to a hot start with what looked like to me, an obvious homerun shot to left field by Junior Kristina Foreman in the bottom of the first inning. The 2nd baseman trotted around the base path before attempting to round third, she was tagged by the Louisville defender and called out by the umpires. The ball ricocheted off the camera operators scaffold and back into the playing area which prompted a review by the umpires. It was later determined that it was indeed a homerun and Foreman rightfully took her trot across the plate and the Blue Devils took a 3-0 lead.
Louisville was not ready to concede, however.
The Cards responded in the top of the second to load the bases. But not without another review and overturned call by the umpires on (what looked like an obvious call to me in live play) a play at 1B where Cassady Greenwood beat the throw by a half a step. Senior centerfielder Celene Funke found herself with bases loaded and no outs. The Carmel, IN senior poked one over the defense to centerfield to score a run and keep the bases loaded with nobody out. A fielders choice would give Duke their first out of the inning on the force at home by Vanessa Miller. Carmyn Greenwood singled on a hit to third base and everyone advanced. Maddy Newman was able to send one to deep right field which allowed speedy Celene Funke to score and tie it up on the SAC FLY. Taylor Roby ended the offensive spark with a strikeout.
The two early half innings combined for the most runs in a game all day.
It would be the final time the Cards scored in the contest.
Duke was able to secure the victory in the bottom of the fourth when Foreman, again, scored for the Blue Devils. She was walked before scoring from first base on a double by senior first baseman Rachel Crabtree. Duke then had a stellar defensive play in the top of the fifth to kill all momentum by the Cards' bats. Maddy Newman saw a serious left field shift that featured 2 short stops but was able to find the gap for the single. However a mistake on base-running ended the threat for Louisville. Roby got out on a diving catch by the catcher at the away dugout, who then immediately popped up and put Maddy in a pickle where she was tagged out attempting to reach back to first.
The Cards left runners on in the fifth and the sixth to end their season and hope for an ACC championship. In a shocking turn of events, Celene Funke led the Cards at the plate going 2-3 on the day. Roby takes the loss moving her to a 12-14 record this season. UofL finishes the season with a 21-28-1 record. The roster featured seven seniors this season.
A season of mixed feeling here for me. Louisville had some bona fide stars in the Greenwood sisters, Taylor Roby, Makayla Hurst and Rebecca Chung. The Cards needed a strong second pitcher beside Roby, though, and Jen Leonhardt and Gabby Holloway couldn't quite fill that role. A dsappointing season at the plate for Celene Funke as well.
Still, the Cards had strength in the infield with Hurst at first, Newman at second and Servi at short. Cassady Greenwood took over the starting catcher role and performed well there...but her batting dropped off from last season. Butler, Funke and Carmyn Greenwood made for a solid outfield crew, fielding wise. Freshmen Taryn Weddle and Gabby Holloway show promise and it's reported that the incoming 2022 class offers power and sound fielding.
The future looks good for the Cards. Roby, the Greenwood sisters, Hurst, Butler, Servi and Chung return. If Holly Aprile can find that second strong hurler to go with Roby, the Cards should improve upon their 21-28-1 record and sixth place finish in the ACC.
You just have to get the runners on base home in softball to score runs. If Louisville can improve on that, it could be an NCAA Tournament season for 2022 at Ulmer for Holly Aprile's crew. Louisville lost 13 games by two runs or less....and the left on base numbers indicate that most of the were winnable if key hits at key times could have happened.
It was a weird year, with the pandemic, let's hope for better times in 2022 !!
--sonja--
The loss ends the season for Louisville Softball.
It looked like it was going to be a short night for the Cards as they were the away team in this game, Duke got off to a hot start with what looked like to me, an obvious homerun shot to left field by Junior Kristina Foreman in the bottom of the first inning. The 2nd baseman trotted around the base path before attempting to round third, she was tagged by the Louisville defender and called out by the umpires. The ball ricocheted off the camera operators scaffold and back into the playing area which prompted a review by the umpires. It was later determined that it was indeed a homerun and Foreman rightfully took her trot across the plate and the Blue Devils took a 3-0 lead.
Louisville was not ready to concede, however.
The Cards responded in the top of the second to load the bases. But not without another review and overturned call by the umpires on (what looked like an obvious call to me in live play) a play at 1B where Cassady Greenwood beat the throw by a half a step. Senior centerfielder Celene Funke found herself with bases loaded and no outs. The Carmel, IN senior poked one over the defense to centerfield to score a run and keep the bases loaded with nobody out. A fielders choice would give Duke their first out of the inning on the force at home by Vanessa Miller. Carmyn Greenwood singled on a hit to third base and everyone advanced. Maddy Newman was able to send one to deep right field which allowed speedy Celene Funke to score and tie it up on the SAC FLY. Taylor Roby ended the offensive spark with a strikeout.
The two early half innings combined for the most runs in a game all day.
It would be the final time the Cards scored in the contest.
Duke was able to secure the victory in the bottom of the fourth when Foreman, again, scored for the Blue Devils. She was walked before scoring from first base on a double by senior first baseman Rachel Crabtree. Duke then had a stellar defensive play in the top of the fifth to kill all momentum by the Cards' bats. Maddy Newman saw a serious left field shift that featured 2 short stops but was able to find the gap for the single. However a mistake on base-running ended the threat for Louisville. Roby got out on a diving catch by the catcher at the away dugout, who then immediately popped up and put Maddy in a pickle where she was tagged out attempting to reach back to first.
The Cards left runners on in the fifth and the sixth to end their season and hope for an ACC championship. In a shocking turn of events, Celene Funke led the Cards at the plate going 2-3 on the day. Roby takes the loss moving her to a 12-14 record this season. UofL finishes the season with a 21-28-1 record. The roster featured seven seniors this season.
A season of mixed feeling here for me. Louisville had some bona fide stars in the Greenwood sisters, Taylor Roby, Makayla Hurst and Rebecca Chung. The Cards needed a strong second pitcher beside Roby, though, and Jen Leonhardt and Gabby Holloway couldn't quite fill that role. A dsappointing season at the plate for Celene Funke as well.
Still, the Cards had strength in the infield with Hurst at first, Newman at second and Servi at short. Cassady Greenwood took over the starting catcher role and performed well there...but her batting dropped off from last season. Butler, Funke and Carmyn Greenwood made for a solid outfield crew, fielding wise. Freshmen Taryn Weddle and Gabby Holloway show promise and it's reported that the incoming 2022 class offers power and sound fielding.
The future looks good for the Cards. Roby, the Greenwood sisters, Hurst, Butler, Servi and Chung return. If Holly Aprile can find that second strong hurler to go with Roby, the Cards should improve upon their 21-28-1 record and sixth place finish in the ACC.
You just have to get the runners on base home in softball to score runs. If Louisville can improve on that, it could be an NCAA Tournament season for 2022 at Ulmer for Holly Aprile's crew. Louisville lost 13 games by two runs or less....and the left on base numbers indicate that most of the were winnable if key hits at key times could have happened.
It was a weird year, with the pandemic, let's hope for better times in 2022 !!
--sonja--
