Cards are District champs

The Columbus Cardinals closed out their athletic week last week by hoisting the District Championship banner after defeating the Rice Raiders.

The Cardinals have one last game against Hallettsville on their schedule, but they do not have to worry about their playoff spot as they locked up the number one seed before the Bi-district round.

The Cardinals started their week off last week losing their first district game of the season to Edna. On Tuesday, April 16, the Cardinals lost to Enda after a late score squeaked through for Edna in the sixth inning.

The Cardinals could not tie things back up in the seventh and were handed their first loss of the season. They came into their game Friday against Rice with a chip on their shoulder, and they turned in an amazing performance.

Defensively the Cardinals did not even give the Raiders a chance to do anything in the game. But defense came easy for the Cardinals because the pace of play was controlled by their pitchers.

In five innings, the Cardinals’ pitchers, Kaleb Kuhn and Wyatt Tipton, combined for zero runs and zero hits, walking only one batter and striking out 13 batters. The pair combined for a no-hitter and allowed their offense to unload on the Raiders after being stifled by Edna.

The Cardinals offense knew a banner was on the line Friday night and they showed up ready to play just like Kuhn and Tipton. Cade Neumann and Trevor Berger led the charge on offense along with Brody Tribe.

These three combined for multiple extra base hits, Neumann finished the game with two doubles and a triple, racking up two RBIs along the way. Berger hit a double and a triple and picked up only one RBI.

Tribe helped in the RBI department, bringing four teammates back home and recording a double for his troubles.

The Cardinals cruised to an 11-0 victory over Rice and celebrated winning the District Championship. The Cardinals still have Hallettsville on the schedule but it is a home game so the Cards will come out with some intensity as they will view it as a tune up game before playoffs.

The game will take place on Tuesday, April 23, in Columbus and it will be their last regular season game before embarking on their playoff journey.