Cardinals Honor Seniors With Big Wins

Both the Cardinal’s baseball and softball teams honored their seniors Monday night prior to taking the field against the Declo Hornets in their last home regular season games.  Each of the ten seniors were escorted onto the field by members of their families while a brief bio was read.  The five softball players and four baseball players and one manager all played crucial roles in the success of their respective teams.  As for the games we break down how things went below.

Baseball

The boys baseball game was a thriller throughout.  The score was close following each and every inning.  The Hornets got up to bat first and scored one run in the top of the first.  The Cardinals answered back quickly off of a pair of doubles by Irick and McCullough. At the end of the first the Cardinals led two runs to one.  Each team earned a run in the second and the Cardinals maintained their slim lead.  In the third inning Declo earned an advantage when they knocked in two runs and the Cardinals were held scoreless.  The Cardinals returned the favor in the top of the fourth by holding the Hornets scoreless.  In the bottom of the fourth the Cardinals suffered two fairly quick outs but stayed alive long enough to drive in a pair of runs of their own, regaining a one run lead.  The see-saw affair would continue in the fifth inning.  The Hornets earned two runs while holding Soda Springs to none giving the Hornets the lead back.  Now heading into the sixth inning the weather was cooling off and looking like it might take a turn for the worse.  The Cardinals needed to work fast if they wanted to secure a win on senior night.  The Cards did make quick work in the top of the sixth, earning three outs.  In the bottom of the inning with the bases loaded and two out Dilworth came up big hitting a triple and suddenly the Cardinals led by three which was the biggest lead of the game for either team.  To the top of the seventh they went and the Hornets last bats.  Declo did not go down easy.  The Hornets scored two quick runs with no outs on the board.  Then with the tying run on third Horsley stepped to the mound earning the last two outs and securing the victory for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals now begin district tournament play.  At the time of the writing of this article we did not have the seedings or schedule of the tournament but check out next week's edition for a rundown of how the tournament played out. 

Cardinals 2 1 0 2 0 4 - 9

Hornets 1 1 2 0 2 0 2 8

 Softball

Monday night's softball game was thrilling in a different way from the baseball game.  The Lady Cardinals took control in the bottom of the first and never looked back.  The game started with the Hornets up to bat first.  The Cardinals earned two quick outs before allowing the Hornets to drive in four runs putting the Cardinals in an early hole on the scoreboard.  In the bottom of the first the Davis sisters got things rolling for the Cardinals scoring the first two runs of the game for Soda Springs.  With two outs and still trailing by a run the Cardinals caught fire as they were able to add six more runs before the end of the inning.  Now leading by five runs the Lady Cards kept the pressure on.  The next two innings were scoreless for both teams.  In the top of the fourth inning the Hornets would attempt to make a run on the Cardinals scoring two runs and cutting the lead to three.  Soda Springs quickly answered back, putting up four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.  After holding the Hornets scoreless once again in the fifth inning the Cards added three more runs and this game ended early with a dominant Cardinal win.  The Lady Cardinals have one remaining regular season game left at Malad on Thursday before hosting the opening game of the district tournament in Soda Springs on Saturday at 1 p.m. where they will face the West Side Pirates.

Cardinals 9 0 0 4 3 16

Hornets 4 0 0 2 0 6