Some may call winning one championship luck. Others may even call it a fluke. But winning three consecutive championships? That’s hard workand talent. 

In the championship game on May 12, the Lowell softball team prepped up and delivered an 11-7 blow against long-time archrival Washington. Cardinals started the game off strong with a healthy 3-0 lead by the secondinning. The Cardinals continued to stretch their lead further by scoring twomore runs and, by the end of the third inning, the score was 5-0.

However,it wasn’t long before the Eagles proved themselves worthy of playing in thefinals. The fourth inning turned out to be a crucial one for the Eagles. The Cardinals let their lead slip with bad passes, overthrows and communication errors. “They took advantage of many of our errors and capitalized on it,”sophomore catcher Chloe Roddy said.

To bring the team back in focus,the Cardinals huddled up. “We brought everyone together partly to calm themdown and partly to break up Washington’s momentum,” junior pitcher Alina Werthsaid. “In a game like that, momentum is a huge factor.” After a few words ofencouragement, the Cardinals were able to close the inning, but not before the Eagles took the lead 6-5.

Withthe sixth inning looming, the Cardinals knew they had to score. However, this would not be easy — the Eagles made it difficult by playing a game of strategy, walking the better hitters. Sophomore shortstop Katie Tam and Werth managed toget on first and second respectively, when Roddy stepped up to the plate andwas later walked to first. “The Eagles’ pitcher purposely walked Chloe because she’s one of our main hitters and can really crush the ball,” senior outfielder Connie Lin said.

The Eagles’ obvious off-centered throws had the Cardinal crowd booing the pitcher. “I was frustrated because I knew that if I were given the opportunity and if they didn’t walk me, I wouldhave stepped up and helped the team much more,” Roddy said.

Senior co-captain center fielder Sophia Chen agreed. “It definitely shows that they’re intimidated by such talent and Chloe still has two seasons to go,” she said.

It was the 10th inning with thescore tied at 7-7, bases loaded, when a strange wave of déjà vu came over the crowd. Just like the year before whileplaying against the Lincoln Mustangs, Chen stepped to the plate and delivered the much-needed hit to crown the Cardinals as the city champs.

Chen’s hit brought the Cardinals upfour runs. “I was so excited for Sophia to be in that situation again,” coachSascha Taylor-Ray said. “I knew we still had the bottom of the 10th inning tohold Washington off so I couldn’t let my excitement show yet.” But Taylor-Rayhad nothing to worry about, the Cardinals kept up their defense and pulledthrough.

Throughout the 10th inning, Werth kept up the heat with fast pitches. “It was definitely very tiring,” Werth, who suffers from tendonitis, said. “My ankle was hurting so I was icing it as muchas I could in-between innings.”

Nonetheless, Werth let heradrenaline take over and overcame the challenge. “We knew it was going to be arough game,” she said. “I focused on getting those three outs.”

Teammates noted Werth’s dedication.“For Alina to be able to pitch 10 innings with her ankle injury is pretty incredible,” Lin said. “She stayed strong from the beginning to the end of the game.”

Looking at the Cardinals now, it’shard to imagine that they were once struggling in the beginning of the season. “Our hitting wasn’t consistent from the start of the season but after a couple months, you can see that everyone was contributing to win the game,” Lin said.

The team worked hard throughout the season to defend their title. “We had a rough start at the beginning, and our championship win shows how much we have improved since that time,” Chen said.

The Cardinals earned their title.“In the beginning, they expected to win and throughout season they practiced towin and the result was the city championship,” Taylor-Ray said.

In contrast to the 10-inning game,the previous playoff game against Lincoln ended early at the fifth inning. The Cardinals massacred the Lincoln Mustangs, 10-0 on May 7 and had to be called off due to the rule of “mercy.” “It’s when the other team is up by 15 runs bythe third inning or 10 by the fifth, then the umpire calls game,” Lin explained.

On May 15, the Cardinals made history by winning the first game of the Transbay Series, beating their cross-bay rivals the Skyline High Titans 14-3 but lost on May 18 in the second round 5-4. Their third deciding game was held this last Wednesday but results were too late for press.

MostValuable Players

The Lowell’s choices for most valuable players are two athletes who Taylor-Ray described as consistent throughout the entire season — Chen andWerth.

“Alina is one of the main reasons we got to champs,” Taylor-Ray said. “She is our pitcher and one of the, if notthe best, pitcher in the league,” she said. Pitching is a crucial part of softball and with strong pitchers come strong defense, something that helped the Cardinals clinch the title. “Sophia is a solid player in the outfield, never making any errors and in the champs hit the RBI that put us in front of Washington,” she said. 

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