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The Columbus Cardinals Minor Softball team traveled to Sealy this weekend to compete in the Sealy tournament starting with the Pool Play that started on Friday, June 14.
They were in Pool C which included Columbus and three other teams, Sealy, Burleson Co., and Twin Cities. Columbus played against all three of these teams for Pool Play and walked away with a 1-2 record.
@ Twin Cities, W, 14-4
Columbus dove headfirst into the tournament and made themselves right at home in their first game of Pool Play.
They took on Twin Cities in the first game and jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the middle of the third inning. Twin Cities is also a team comprised of All-Stars, though, and cut Columbus’ lead to 6-4 by the end of the third inning.
This would be the only form of offense Twin Cities could find against Columbus. Columbus scored eight runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 14-4 and closed the game out in only four innings because of their potent offense.
Columbus’ offense was led by Harper Kramr and Taitlyn Beauchamp who hit doubles in the game. Kramr also turned in a very solid performance in the circle, giving up zero runs on zero hits while striking out 10 batters and only walking four.
Columbus was feeling good heading into games two and three but would run into a wall offensively.
@ Sealy, L, 4-0
In game two, things did not come as easy to Columbus, and they suffered their first loss of the tournament.
Their offense may not have been up to their standards. Defensively however they turned in another solid performance.
That sounds odd to say for a loss but to hold two separate All-Star teams to only four runs through two games is something to marvel at. Sealy caught Columbus early in the game jumping out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the firat inning.
They added two more runs in the third and fourth inning to make the score 4-0 and then just shutdown Columbus’ offense the rest of the game/ Kramr recorded another double in the contest, but Columbus struggled to find any sort of rhythm on offense and Sealy took advantage of it in game two. They lost their first game of Pool Play and then set their sights on Burleson Co for game three.
@ Burleson Co., L, 5-1
In game three it was more of the same from Columbus, stout and strong defense despite a loss and offensive struggles.
The Offensive struggles are easy to get back on track and it’s always good to get it worked out before bracket play begins. Columbus will be just fine offensively and a good indicator of that is how their defense is playing.
Again, that sounds odd saying that for a loss, but Columbus’ defense is keeping them in these games. In both losses their defense never gave up or let the score get out of hand and kept things relatively close. If they haven’t given up on defense, that means they believe that their offense will come around.
Columbus’ offense will get a chance to reset and rest before bracket play begins on Tuesday, June 18, where they take on Bellville on Feild 2 at 6 p.m.
