KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Catholic softball team went into the second to last day in Florida with two more matchups against St. Joseph's (Me.) and UMass Dartmouth. A thrilling late game comeback in game one highlighted a 1-1 day for the Cardinals to move to 9-3 on the season.
Both pitchers kept the opposing lineups down throughout the first three innings as Alex Pley allowed just one hit going through the lineup the first time. The first breakthrough came in the top of the fourth inning after a lead off double put a runner into scoring position. Madison Pelletier helped her own cause by knocking a single through the left side of the infield to bring the run home and give the Monks a 1-0 lead.

The lead doubled in the top of the fifth inning after a single and a sacrifice bunt put a runner in on second with only one out in the inning. Sadie Tirrell came up with a single into right center field to bring the runner home and make it a 2-0 lead for St. Joseph's. Another insurance run was added the next inning after back-to-back doubles from Pelletier and Abby Carpenter brought in a third run for the Monks to extend the lead to 3-0. 

The Cardinals offense showed a sign of life in the bottom of the sixth inning which was led off by a double into left center field from Katie Scolese. Olivia Stinchcomb came up with the first big swing of the game for Catholic, launching a two-run homer over the outfield fence to pull the Cardinals back within one.

The seventh inning rally Catholic needed was started off by Aubrynn Arcement who drew her second walk of the game to put the tying run on base with no outs. With one out, Sam Grillo came up with a knock to right field to put two runners on and a passed ball in the next at-bat put the tying and go-ahead run into scoring position. Stinchcomb hit into an infield fly with the bases loaded but the Monks were unable to make a play on the ball and Arcement darted home to knot things up at three and send the game into extra innings.

Despite the ghost runner on second base, Sophia Colangelo set down the Monks in order to keep the runner and second base and give the Cardinals a chance to win the game in the bottom of the eighth. 

A sacrifice bunt from Katie McHugh pushed the winning run over to third base with just one out. After an intentional walk, Geneva Webber came up with the swing of the day for Catholic with a single down the right field line to bring in the run and give Catholic its ninth win of the season, 4-3.

Stinchcomb's homer was her second of the season, making her the first Cardinal to hit multiple long balls so far this season. She also has 11 RBI in the first 12 games played to lead the team thus far.

Colangelo earned her third win of the season after coming in relief and not giving up a run while only allowing one hit over the last 2.2 innings. She now boasts a 1.29 ERA over 21.2 innings on the season.
The Cardinals offense went back to the long ball to get the scoring started in the second game in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Katie McHugh jacked a solo homer over the wall in left field to get the scoring started.

The Corsairs came up with an immediate answer in the bottom of the inning, led-off by a single from Lily Routhier. Two ground outs moved her over to third pace and she crossed the plate on a wild pitch to tie the game back up at one.

UMass Dartmouth pushed across two more runs in the bottom of the third inning aided by a couple of Catholic errors to make it a 3-1 lead after a run came in to score on a stolen base at second got away to allow the run to score.

The Corsairs pitching was effective in the middle innings, setting down 10 batters in a row at one point to continue to hold onto the slim lead into the final inning.

Catholic once again tried to rally in the seventh inning with two outs after McHugh picked up a single into center field. Olivia Brousseau pinch-ran and stole second to move into scoring position and Leeah Koegel came up with an RBI base-hit up the middle to bring her home to pull within one. Koegel advanced all the way to third base but a groundout ended the game to leave the Cardinals comeback short by one run.

McHugh led the Cardinals offense with her two hits, for her first multi-hit game of the season to move her season batting average to .400 (6-for-15).