Softball Recap: Tampa Catholic Falls Short of Berkeley Prep in the Playoffs

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Tampa Catholic can now relate to. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Berkeley Prep Buccaneers on Thursday. The Crusaders were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Buccaneers earlier this season, when they won 6-3.

Olivia Ricciardi

Base on Balls Against

05/01/25 vs Berkeley Prep	0
04/22/25 @ Academy of the Holy Names	1
04/16/25 vs Fort Meade	1

Olivia Ricciardi spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three runs (all of which were unearned) on six hits and racked up six Ks. She has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Tampa Catholic saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Raegan Kirchen, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.

This is the second loss in a row for Tampa Catholic and nudges their season record down to 10-9. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 7 runs in those games. As for Berkeley Prep, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 14-9.

As of now, neither Tampa Catholic nor the Buccaneers have any future games scheduled.