Cardinal Newman had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Encinal Jets 6-4. Winning may never get old, but Cardinal Newman sure is getting used to it with their 11th in a row.
Callie Howard made a big impact no matter where she played. On the mound, she struck out 12 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off nine hits (and only one walk). Howard has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in 23 consecutive pitching appearances. Howard was also big at the plate, scoring two runs while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Christell Mccormick was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Another player making a difference was Ava Walters, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
On Encinal's side, Jazzy Alcantar was cooking despite her team's loss, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, and a double. The team also got some help courtesy of Emiko Takemoto, who went 1-for-2 with a home run.
Even though they lost, Encinal lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. This was only their first loss (out of nine games) when they post two or more home runs.
Cardinal Newman is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 23-5 record this season. As for Encinal, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 22-5.
Cardinal Newman will square off against San Rafael at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The pair have allowed few runs on average, (San Rafael: 1.1, Cardinal Newman: 3.3) so any runs scored will be well earned. Encinal does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
