Box Score

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The second-guessing started even before the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team arrived at the Coe College Field for the opening games of the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional.

“How can Saint Mary's be the No. 1 seed? They didn't even win their conference,” one person said as the Cardinals warmed up for their first game against Benedictine on Friday.

“Central and Coe both spent most of the season ranked in the nation's top 10, and both have better records — and yet Saint Mary's is seeded No. 1? What's that all about,” grumbled another.

The Cardinals didn't do much to impress their critics in their opener against Benedictine, committing a season-high six errors in a 5-4 victory over the region's No. 5 seed.

From that point on, however, the Cardinals put on a fastpitch clinic, and even those naysayers who doubted their credentials as the region's top seed were left in awe, as SMU manhandled Central 3-0 on Saturday and held on to beat Coe 4-3 in Sunday's championship game to earn the school's first-ever regional title.

And, more importantly, a berth in next week's NCAA Division III national tournament in Salem, Va.

“The athletic field is always a proving ground, a place where you prove to others just how good you are,” said SMU coach John Tschida. “I heard people talking before the tournament started about how we didn't deserve to be the No. 1 seed, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But what matters is what you do on the field, and I think we made a pretty good statement.”

Pretty good? If the Cardinals' performance against the Kohawks in Sunday's championship game was any indication, SMU's statement would most definitely have to be followed by an exclamation point.

“Everyone was pretty jacked up before the game,” admitted senior outfielder Angie Wright, who delivered a two-out, two-run triple in the top of the third to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. “But we were also very focused. We played nervous (against Benedictine in the opener) and we knew we couldn't afford to do that against Coe.

“We had to just play our game.”

Coe jumped out front early against the Cardinals, getting a lead-off, solo home run from Shalyn Swarthout in the second. It was the third home run of the day for the Kohawk freshman, who laced a pair of grand slam homers earlier in the day in leading Coe to a 12-4 victory over Central in the loser's bracket elimination game.

“We knew she was a good hitter. She got a pitch she could handle and she just drove it out,” said Tschida, who would not be fooled twice, as he unintentionally walked Swarthout the next two times she came to the plate. “Coe is a good hitting team. We knew they were going to get their chances. But we also knew we would, too. We just needed to make sure to make our chances count.”

And they did.

After Wright's triple erased the Kohawks' short-lived 1-0 advantage, the Cardinals pushed their lead to 4-1, getting a two-out RBI single by Gina Rizzardi in the fourth and a two-out, solo home run from Jill Hocking in the fifth.

“Good teams get clutch hitting, and we've got some really clutch hits from a number of different people in our lineup,” said Tschida, whose team scored all four runs with two out. “We got a couple of pitches we could drive, and Angie and Jill both came through.”

Coe pulled back within one in the bottom of the fifth, tagging SMU pitcher Teisha Smith for a pair of runs on three hits. But that was as close as the senior right-hander would allow Coe to get as Smith retired the Kohawks in order in the sixth and facing just four batters in the seventh, getting Alison Rohdy to strikeout to end the game.

And send the Cardinals on to Salem.

“There's a quote that has been our motto all season, 'The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,' “ said Smith, who pitched every inning of the regional tournament, allowing just four earned runs in 21 innings. “And we've lived by that, not just now, but in fall ball, in the winter, and then when we got with Tschida … . This is an awesome reward for all that hard work.”

Even Tschida, not one to give out compliments like they were blue light specials at the local K-Mart, admitted he was proud of what his team had done.

“This is quite an accomplishment,” said Tschida, whose team lost in the regional final a year ago to eventual national champion Simpson. “And it's a great tribute to the hard work that this group of ladies has put in — not just during the season, but all year round. They've put in a lot of time, and they deserve to enjoy this.”

But not for too long.

“We've still got work to do,” warned Tschida, who admitted that he didn't have time to savor the regional championship, because he was already trying to prepare for the Cardinals' upcoming national tournament game. “This is great, but we're not done yet.”

No matter what other people may think.