The Melissa (Texas) Cardinals softball team was pushed as hard as it has been in two months, but found a way to remain unblemished.
Facing a bases loaded situation with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Melissa sophomore pitcher Eloisa Maes notched her ninth strikeout of the day to shut the door on the Tigers for the 5-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Rowan Field.
Maes went the distance for the Cardinals (29-0), who are the country’s consensus No.1 high school team and have now won 44 consecutive games dating back to late March of 2024. Lulu Adrian went a perfect 3-for-3 for Melissa at the plate that included a leadoff triple to get the fifth inning started, while Gabby Kuerhler finished 2-for-3.
The loss was the first for Bentonville (14-2) since they fell to nationally ranked Calvary Baptist (La.) in mid-March, but Tigers Coach Kent Early was very pleased with the way his team battled until the final out. He mentioned the second and third innings – the frames in which the Cardinals scored all five of their runs – as the difference in the game.
“We talk all the time about how pressure is a privilege, we had some pressure in inning two and inning three because we gave up a home run and committed an error,” Early said. “We rallied a little bit to score two in the seventh frame, but competing on the national stage against the best team in the country I thought we did our part.”
Coverage presented by Ozark Women’s Specialty Group
With Bentonville starting the bottom of the seventh inning in a four-run hole, Demi Donahoe lined a single down the left field line, then two batters later Anniston Reith hit a line drive to center that scored Donahoe from first, then two more hitters later Marissa Gianneschi stepped up to the plate representing the tying run and hit a fly ball to left. Early opted to go with Ava Stimis to pinch hit and Stimis came through with a liner to left to juice the bases.
Early went with another pinch hitter following Stimis, Taylor Crisp, whose single towards third base drove in Reith to make it 5-3 with two outs, but that would be as close as the Tigers got to taking a massive win on the road. The goal for both teams was to get a good look at some of the country’s top competition with the postseason right around the corner and Early feels that was accomplished.
“Nothing is going to prepare us for the state tournament like this one,” he said. “I thought the kids responded well to the atmosphere and the pressure. I am just really glad we were here and in this situation.”
The Tigers struck first in the opening inning after they loaded the bases with two outs and a hit by pitch sent Gianneschi to first and Violet Nguyen across home plate from third base. Junior ace and Texas A&M commit Darby Burnett sat down the side in order at the bottom of the frame, but the Cardinals took the lead in the second on a two-run shot to center field by Paisley Needham to make it 2-1.
Burnett caught a break in the third after walking leadoff batter Finlee Williams as Burnett responded by striking out KB Bradley, who leads the Cardinals with 19 home runs, then Williams was called out for leaving early – one of two times in the game that happened to Melissa – while attempting to steal second. With two outs, Burnett gave up another walk followed by a single, but then a two-RBI double by Izzy Gonzales sent two more runners home to extend the Cardinal lead to 4-1. A Tiger error on the ensuing at-bat scored Gonzales to put the Melissa lead at 5-1 through three.
After the third concluded, neither team got a runner in scoring position for two more innings before the Tigers put runners on second and third following a one-out hit by pitch and two-out walk, but Bentonville was unable to capitalize. Burnett’s most impressive frame was in the top of the fifth while working around a leadoff triple by Adrian. She struck out two of the next three batters, then ended up retiring six of her next seven faced in the final two innings.
“It is not what happens to you, it is how you react to it and she reacted very well,” Early said of Burnett, who matched Maes’ nine strikeouts on the day. Burnett threw 321 pitches this week against tough competition that included the Cardinals, plus 6A-West foes Rogers and Springdale Har-Ber.
Reith finished a perfect 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Donahoe also recorded multiple hits going 2-for-4 and Nguyen knocked a double.
Cover photo by Jimmy Jones
Kyle Sutherland is a journalist and podcast host (Arkansas Preps Weekly) for The Natural State Sports Network. His written work has been featured in outlets including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Best of Arkansas Sports and Hooten’s Arkansas Football. He is also the color commentator for 103.7 The Buzz’s high school football Game of the Week. Email Kyle at kyle@naturalstatesports.com.