FARGO (NewsDakota)- It may not have been the weekend Carrington were hoping for, but the groundwork has been laid for the future of the Cardinal softball program.

The Cardinals concluded their history-making 2025 season by falling to the May Port-CG/Hatton-Northwood Patriots 8-6 in the seventh place game of the Class B State Tournament on Saturday morning at Tharaldson Park in Fargo.

The first four innings were a pitchers’ duel between Carrington sophomore Calleigh Hewitt and the Patriots’ Maddie Sand, as the game was scoreless.  Then, in the fifth, the Region 2 champions scored twice but in the bottom half, Carrington would respond with five runs on six hits, punctuated by senior Kaydence Van Ray’s two-run go-ahead homer to left field, and the Cardinals led 5-2.

But the Patriots answered with four runs in the sixth, including a two-run homer by Brooklyn Galde and after a two-run seventh, it was 8-5.

The Cardinals were not done, as the first three reached in the last of the seventh before Ella Volk missed a walk-off grand slam by six feet for a sac fly that made it 8-6.  But Sand would re-enter and get the final two outs to secure the win.

Carrington finished with a .500 or better record (11-11) for the first time in program history and will return seven starters in 2026.

FULL ARCHIVE: