(Kansas City, MO) – The Concordia softball team was back in action Thursday afternoon as they took on the 5th-seeded Trinity Christian Trolls in the NCCAA Softball World Series Championship Game. The Cardinals jumped on the Trolls right away, recording 6 runs in the first 4 innings of play and using that advantage to ride to their first NCCAA World Series title in 24 years.
CUAA 8, Trinity Christian 1
The Cardinals got the opportunity to bat first, and they did not take long to get on the scoreboard, as in the 2nd at bat of the contest Koryn Playford drilled a shot deep to left field and over the wall for her second home run of the year, giving CUAA the early advantage. Shannon McAlinden would follow up the at-bat with a double to right-center field and Elyse Brittain knocked her in with a 2-out single drilled to the wall. Dee Campbell advanced Brittain to 3rd with a 2-out single, but the Trolls would limit the Cardinal offense to just 2 runs in the opening frame of play.
Paige Anderson would get the nod to start on the mound for Concordia, and she began the contest with a steady opening inning that only surrendered one base runner on a walk. In the top of the 2nd, CUAA would get a 2-out rally going as Payton Lewis and Koryn Playford would hit back-to-back home runs to left field, extending the Cardinal lead to 4 and chasing the Trolls' starter from the ball game. Anderson would walk a pair of batters in the bottom of the frame, but worked her way out of the jam once again to secure the Cards' advantage heading into the 3rd.
The Concordia bats continued to explode, as Katie Tobias would double to lead the inning off, before a Jada Stephenson chopped single up the middle with 2-outs in the frame brought home Tobias to stretch the advantage to 5. Trinity Christian would lead off the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles before a fielder's choice brought home their lone run of the contest, trimming the Cardinal lead back to 4. Anderson would force a ground out and strike out her second batter of the game to retire the side.
Lewis would pick up another extra base hit in the 4th, hitting a ground rule double to left-center, before McAlinden brought her home with another 2-out single for the Cards to bring the lead back to 5. The next inning and half would be quiet for both sides, as the teams combined to muster 2 total base runners across the 9 outs of play. Maddy Grueter and Koryn Playford picked up singles in the top of the 6th, but would be unable to make it home. Anderson surrendered just her 4th hit of the contest in the bottom of the inning, but Tobias would throw a Troll runner out trying to steal second and CUAA would get out of the frame in just three batters once again.
Concordia added insurance in the top of the 7th, as Tobias and Brittain opened the inning with a double and walk, respectively, before Dee Campbell advanced them to 2nd and 3rd with a sacrifice bunt and Stephenson drove both Tobias and pinch runner Summer Brady home with a 2 RBI single to left-center field, extending the Cardinal advantage to 8-1. Anderson returned to the mound for the final inning, forcing a ground out to 2nd before striking out the final two batters of the game to secure Concordia's first NCCAA World Series National Championship title since 1999.
Paige Anderson (23-8) was credited with the win after her 3rd complete game effort in as many attempts at the World Series, striking out 6 batters and allowing just 7 total runners in another masterful effort on the mound. Koryn Playford led the squad with 3 hits and 2 home runs, doubling her previous season total in the first two innings of the game. Jada Stephenson led CUAA with 3 RBIs, while her, Lewis, McAlinden, Tobias, and Brittain all picked up 2 hits in the victory.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Koryn Playford and Paige Anderson would be chosen as the two Cardinal representatives on the NCCAA World Series All-Tournament Team, with Anderson also being selected as the Tournament MVP. Playford recorded 4 hits in the World Series, including 3 in the title game (2 of them being solo home runs) as she finished the tournament with a .588 slugging percentage and 10 putouts as the Concordia Left Fielder. Anderson finished the tournament 3-0 on the mound with an 0.37 ERA in 19 innings pitched, allowing just 6 hits (with a .098 opponent batting average) and striking out 17 hitters on the way to the National Championship.
SEASON IN REVIEW
The Cardinals finish the season with an all-time program best 44-17 overall record, including a 16-6 WHAC record that was good enough to earn them a tie for 2nd in the regular season. In the postseason, they made their first WHAC Tournament Championship finals appearance in over two decades and won their third ever NCCAA World Series National Championship, the first since 1999.
