Louisville Softball falls to UVA in series finale 7-3...MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

FIVE IN FIFTH SEND CARDS TO "L" 

For four innings, the Louisville Softball team was playing toward a series sweep against the Virginia Cavaliers. After overcoming a less than glamorous top of the first inning...where they allowed two unearned runs on two singles and two errors...they got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning when they put together a walk and three singles with two outs.  Cards even broke the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth when Jordan McNary singled, stole second, advanced to third on a Morgan Meyer single and got home on Nicole Pufahl's sacrifice fly. 

The fifth, though, was not so kind to Louisville. UVA responded with six hits and used a Cardinal error to put up five runs. A three run homer off Maryssa Becker that bounced off the left center score board was the big blow...Becker gave way to Megan Hensley in the circle after that and the Wahoos sent two more home to complete the inning. 

Louisville left five runners in the next three innings and could not produce any further runs. 

The Cards skipper Sandy Pearsall spoke after the loss: 


"We set the tone early with errors to start the game," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "Maryssa came out an threw a good game early on and we did not make the plays behind her. It's hard to win games when you don't execute the little things."

Softball clinches Senior weekend series

Softball Run Rules UVA

Everyone hit and everyone scored in the Cards 2nd game of the series vs UVA in the 11-3 run-rule win.

The first inning looked like we might be in for a pitcher's duel with Megan Hensley in the circle for UofL.  No one was making solid contact on the ball, but later in the game, the offense started settling in, perhaps figuring our the pitchers a bit, and we started to see more base runners and scoring.

The Cards would get the scoring started in the 2nd inning, with Megan Hensley taking a plunk to the ankle, which looked like it probably would've hurt, but she showed no evidence of any discomfort in the trot to 1st base.  Jenna Jordan got the first solid contact of the game with a double to right center.  Hensley, not particularly known for speed on the basepaths, but no slow-poke either, stretched it around from 1st to home.  The throw from the 2nd base cutoff hit her helmet as she slid into home safe.  A rough round of the bases for the sophomore, but the Ashland native wasn't concerned about it once she touched home and put the first score up on the scoreboard.  Jenna Jordan would subsequently score on a fielding error.

UVA juggled their fielding arrangement in the third, bringing their right fielder in to the pitching
circle, and sending the previous pitcher out to right field.  It didn't help.  Moe Meyer got hit by a pitch, Nicole "Poof" Pufahl doubled out to left field, scoring the speedy Meyer.  Maryssa Becker singled, scoring Poof, and then advanced to 2nd on the throw.  She got to third on some gutsy running on a wild pitch.  The pitchers stuck together with Hensley doubling to bring Becker home.  Hensley would get tagged out at 2nd when a fast grounder to the short stop from Jamie Soles left her scrambling to get back to the base, and didn't get there in time.  With two outs, Tiarra Sanabria ripped her 2nd home run in two games, lifting this one to the fitness track in left.  The yellow shirts had to retrieve it from the FirstBuild parking lot across Brandeis.  Alison "Mike" Szydlowski would eventually get tagged out trying to get home on some aggressive base running.  Don't blame Mike for that one, Coach Pearsall, in the post-game interview took responsibility for sending her, thinking it was a good bet with a solid lead already in the board.

UVA would score 2 in the 4th, and then in the bottom half of the inning would switch their pitchers back to their original fielding locations and had good success.  Two foul fly balls caught, and a fly out to center would sit the Cards down in order.

The Cavs would put another on the board in the 5th, bringing the score to 7-3.  The Cards were looking for a quick exit on the warm day, and they would have it.  Jamie Soles would get to first on a single up the middle, surrounded by a pair of pop outs.  So, with 1 runner on 1st, and two outs, the Cards went to work, though to be fair, some of the credit goes to the UVA pitcher.  Sanabria got to take a stroll, then Mike got hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  Jordan McNary got to take a stroll, scoring Jamie Soles.  Moe Meyer singled up the middle then advanced on the throw, scoring Mike and Sanabria, while moving Mike to 3rd.  UVA, looking for answers, switched their pitchers again, and again it didn't really help.  Poof got to take a stroll, and then Becker smacked a single to center which scored McNary.  If you've been keeping count, that puts the score at 11-3 in the bottom of the fifth, resulting in a run-rule win for the Cards.

The Cards hope to be back in action today at noon, weather permitting (your correspondent is looking out of the window at a solid rain at the time of this writing), for a Senior Day celebration.  The Cards will be honoring Maryssa Becker, Moe Meyer, Tiarra Sanabria, and Jordan McNary.

LINK: POST GAME SANDY PEARSALL

LINK: THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR 4/29/17

-- JMcA

Southpaw specials...Cardinal Couple Saturday

Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad

It's been a while.  I know you have been craving a Cardinal Couple team honor, so today we bring you The Cardinal Couple Collaborative Southpaw Special Squad.  An honorary team of all left-handers.  We only have appearances from three of the Louisville women's teams because, here's a fun fact for you, there is no "left-handed" equipment for Field Hockey, so it's nigh-on impossible to tell the lefties when they're out on the field in that sport, and similar for Lacrosse.  So we have honorees from Basketball, Volleyball, and Softball, as these are the sports where handedness really makes a more significant difference.

Softball Honorees

We'll start on the diamond.  We have three full lefties on the Softball Squad.

Jordan Vorbrink

A sophomore this year, Jordan saw action last year as a freshman, with appearances in 24 games, and 15 starts at either first base, or in the outfield.  Seemingly a specialist in triples, tying for the team lead, she almost had a cycle in one game, lacking just a single in the attempt.  Jordan is a local, playing high school ball at Mercy Academy

Morgan Meyer

A senior leader on the team, co-captain last year, "Mo" played in 45 games last year, with 37 starts in the outfield.  A real speedster, Meyer has found a home in the outfield, covering acres of grass to deny hitters their success.  Before making her presence known in the outfield, she frequently made base running appearances, taking advantage of her quickness and speed to advance on even marginal hits.  Morgan is definitely a country girl at heart, but also hails from the Derby city, and also is a Mercy graduate.

Jordan McNary

To round out the true-lefty softballers, Jordan McNary shares a lot of traits with Morgan Meyer.  She's a senior speedster that patrols the outfield, appeared in 45, started 38.  She also tied with Vorbrink for triples.  Also a Kentuckian, McNary hails from Madisonville, and went to Hopkins County Central HS.

Volleyball Honorees

To the wide net, and another trio of lefties.

Gabbie Wiley

From Hannibal MO, and Hannibal High School, Gabbie Wiley had a great year as a defensive and serving specialist for the Cardinal squad that generally struggled through the year.  Gabbie played in a more attacking role in high school, and has taken a couple of years to adjust to playing a more defensively oriented role on the team, but came into her own this year, with several matches where she equalled Libero Molly Sauer's dig totals, with only half the rotations to do it in.  In service, the left-handed serve puts a different spin on the ball which tends to cause serve receive problems.  Notre Dame seemed particularly hapless this season in handling the southpaw spin.  Gabbie also was on the ACC Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll, as a pre-med student, no less.  Gabbie was a junior this year.

Kali Eaken

The Cardinals primary setter this year, Kali also hails from Missouri, but from the city of fountains, Kansas City.  Kali initially committed to and enrolled at Kansas State, but after a redshirt freshman year, transfers to UofL to continue her career.  Eaken struggled with several injuries throughout the season, which limited her playing appearances some, but the impact when she was on the court was significant.

Morgan Miller

Morgan Miller comes to us from Magnolia, TX, the second recent Cardinal to hail from that town, following in the footsteps of Roxanne McVey, though they attended different high schools, but did play in the same club system.  The Cardinals are losing the play-her-anywhere services of Janelle Jenkins, who is graduating and heading off to be awesome in whatever she does, but Morgan Miller is from a similar mold.  A competent defensive player, with a good serve, those skills are probably the areas where she has the most room for improvement, as she is already, as a sophomore, a quite good hitter from anywhere on the court.  We don't see her hitting in the middle often, as UofL already has a great roster of middles, but I'm confident she could do a fine job of it.  Otherwise, swinging from the right, from the left, from the backrow, or maybe even not swinging at all, but instead setting others for attacks, she can do it all.  A true utility player with a great eye for the opponent's court, she has excellent ball placement on attacks.

Basketball Honorees

Sydney Zambrotta

"THREEEEEEEEEEEEE 'Z'" is already a common refrain from Cardinal PA guy Sean Moth.  This freshman sharpshooter hails from the venerable Christ The King high school in New York.  Zambrotta, who has also bolstered the ranks of the Cardinal Couple All-Syd/Sid/Szyd team, has already seem some clutch minutes, but we should only expect her contributions to grow as she progresses through her freshman year and further.  At Christ The King, Sydney also played Soccer in the fall, and Lacrosse in the spring, keeping busy all year around.

Asia Durr

Cardinal Couple seems to have an affinity for "Asia"'s, as we continue to follow the career of excellence of Asia Taylor currently tearing up the court in the land down under.  This Asia comes to us from Douglasville, GA and St. Pius X Catholic HS.  Really, who will ever forget her 36 point performance vs Syracuse a couple of weeks ago?  Another sharpshooter, she has just about the range of Shoni Schimmel, but plays great defense as well.  Durr has great handles, and can dribble drive with the best of them.  She's back at full speed this year after being hampered by injury somewhat during her freshman campaign.  We can't wait to see what the next 2 and a half years hold for this star, and for once we won't be excited for the final countdown.

Some Honorable Mentions

Nicole Pufahl

Softball has a couple of players that throw right handed, and I believe are predominantly right-handed, but bat left-handed, so we wanted to give them some love.

Lillie Goetz and Sidney Melton both bat left handed.  Frequently you'll see right handers bat left handed in Softball to be "slappers", but Lillie swings for power from the left side, with a pair of home runs in as many games, both grand slams, no less.  Sidney Melton also doesn't just slap at the ball, tallying some triples in the 2016.

An unusual combination, Nicole Pufahl (who's last name I still can't spell right without checking), throws left handed and bats right handed.  This suggests that she may be predominantly left handed, but learned to bat (with some serious power as well) right handed at some point.  Why?  We're not sure, but we're OK with it.

Radio Today

Today's broadcast will be pre-empted by "Baking with Paulie."  We'll be highlighting turnovers in today's baking show.  Do check it out, it should be a bunch of fun on WCHQ FM 100.9 or streaming at http://www.crescenthillradio.org.  As useless as I am in the kitchen, I'll be fetching coffee.

-- JMcA

Tuesday Cardinal Couple - All M&M Team

M&Ms are a favorite candy (and registered trademark of Mars, Inc...some legal blah blah here), but they also are the initials for some fantastic UofL athletes.

So, I present the Cardinal Couple 2015 All-M&M team.

First Team

Mariya Moore

Most Cardinal Couple readers will be familiar with Mariya Moore.  Currently in Russia playing with the U19 US National Team, Mariya is well known as a guard on the UofL Women's Basketball team with quite the shooting touch.  If the U19 play is any indication, she's been developing some defensive prowess as well.  A rising sophomore, we should be seeing Moore in the red and black for another three seasons.

Maya McClendon

Maya McClendon's older sister made quite an impact playing at perennial Volleyball powerhouse Penn State.  Maya is shorter, at only 5'9" compared to her sister's 6'1", but has more hops and may very well be a better overall player.  A rising junior, McClendon has another two years of play to build her legacy.  The McClendon's are from Louisville, and both sisters attended duPont Manual High School just across Cardinal Blvd from  UofL.  Maya typically plays the full rotation on the court, but may see a break from passing duties this year with Erin Fairs being expected to play full rotation as well.

Morgan Miller

Sticking with Volleyball, we have an incoming freshman from Magnolia Texas (Magnolia High School).  Sharing a hometown with last year's libero Roxanne McVey (but different high school), Morgan is just loaded with the "M"'s, with both first and last names, hometown, and high school all being "M"'s.  Miller is listed as a setter and right side hitter.  With a whopping four setters listed on the UofL Volleyball roster, and Katie George returning, I wouldn't expect to see Morgan taking the 2nd hit very often, but as the only player listed as right side, you may very well see her on the court quite a bit, depending on whether another player shifts over to the right side to play (I'm thinking the play-anywhere Janelle Jenkins might go to the right side this year).

Morgan Meyer

Morgan Meyer and Morgan Miller have already proven that they can make me stop and make sure I'm saying the right name when trying to talk about either of them because the names are so phonetically similar.  They are on totally different teams, though.  Meyer is a rising junior on the softball and is listed as an outfielder.  This past season, however, we mostly saw the speedster Meyer as a pinch runner, typically coming in to round the bases in lieu of slugger Brittany Duncan.  With two of the four graduating seniors this past year being outfielders, or at least occasionally in the outfield, I hope Meyer will get some more time in the field and at bat this year.  "Mo" Meyer is also a Louisvillian, having attended Mercy Academy.

Michelle Molodynia

Speaking of speedsters, Michelle is on both the Cross Country and Track teams.  Technically this makes her a three sport athlete as the NCAA considers Indoor Track&Field to be a separate sport from Outdoor Track&Field.  Michelle is the only women's athlete that I didn't know about before beginning research for this team.  A rising Senior, Molodynia hails from Niagara Falls, Ontario.  You would think, as a Cross Country runner, she would stick to the distance events for T&F, but she is listed as a middle-distance runner, competing in the 800meter to 1mile range of events.

Second Team

While Cardinal Couple is primarily about women's athletics at UofL, I'll add a second team honor for the M&M guys.

Mangok Mathiang

Another basketball name that you probably know already.  Mangok, joined with Montrezl Harrell to begin a trend of odd silent letters in names.  He also continued a trend of excellence.  Born in Sudan Africa, he is a resident of Melbourne Australia, Mathiang represented his home country down under in the World University Games.  While the Aussies didn't fair too well overall in the basketball competition, Mangok led the WUGs competition in rebounding and ended up 8th in scoring with five double-doubles.  A rising sophomore, he graduated in the same class with lock-down UofL soccer defender Chatham DeProspo from IMG Academy in Florida.

Marcus Motill

The only other name that I didn't know before beginning research for this team selection, Marcus is also a runner on the Track&Field team primarily competing in the indoor season.  He has run everything from 60meter to 1000meter in the indoor season, and has added in 60meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot put and heptathlon in the indoor season.  Motill has also run the 400meter in the outdoor season.  A rising junior, he hails from Stamford, CT.

JMcA

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE - Greenwood wins State Softball Tournament

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Greenwood caps off 44-0 season with state title

-Palace Malice upset winner in the Belmont.

They are impressive and some think they may be the best team to ever play in Kentucky Girls High School Softball. Greenwood downed Owensboro Catholic 8-0 Saturday to win their third title in seven years at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro, KY.

The Gators' pitcher Elizabeth Moss held O.C. to a mere three hits, two of them bunts, and Greenwood used a three run third inning to spring out to a lead that just increased the longer the game went. The Gators had twelve hits in the contest. Moss, a junior, has been a dominant pitcher since 2010 in high school softball. I spent significant time trying to find a college commitment for her, to no avail.
We're pretty sure Coach Pearsall knows about her at Louisville. If anyone knows who she is considering, if she has given a verbal anywhere yet or a list of her schools...please shoot us an e-mail or leave a comment.

Elizabeth Moss

Earlier in the day, Greenwood got a bit of a challenge from Louisville Mercy...defeating the Jaguars 5-3 in the finals of the winners' bracket. Louisville softball signee Morgan Meyer and her Mercy teammates then dropped into the losers' bracket to await their next opponent...either Owensboro Catholic or Boyle County. Owensboro emerged the winner over Boyle 4-3 in a 12 inning contest that was settled by Lillie Goetz home run. O.C. then turned around to play Mercy...eliminating the Jaguars 9-8.

In the final, though...there was no suspense in the end. After two scoreless innings, Greenwood posted three in the third, one in the fourth and two runs in the fifth and sixth.

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Mike Smith does it again. Riding longshot Palace Malice for trainer Todd Pletcher...Smith hung close to the pace, made his move to take the lead at the top of the stretch and vanquished 13 contenders to take the Belmont Stakes at 13-1 odds. Preakness winner Oxbow couldn't keep up and faded to second and Orb, Kentucky Derby champ closed to take third.

It was a bit of redemption for me after a trying day of handicapping. Early in the day, trying to play both the Belmont and Churchill race cards, my luck was horrible. I even killed our table's "show pool" out at Churchill Downs for UofL Alumni Day in the 3rd. race. On the favorite in the race.

Finally, I set the Churchill program aside and put my concentration solely on the New York track. I liked a "Pick Four" combination I had put together beginning in the 8th. race...because it was cheap, I had two legs in it that were singles and I was down pretty well on the day. $9 bucks for a 50 cent Pick Four looked pretty good about then.

Stephanie's Kitten went off at 3-1 and was my lone pick in the 8th race...surviving a tough stretch battle to win by a head with John Velasquez aboard. I took three horses in the 9th race and Forty Tales...with Joel Rosario riding...gave me a nice second win at 9-1 odds. I singled again in the 10th. race on huge favorite Point of Entry and it proved successful....paying $3.10 to win.

Central Cardinal Chuck and Travellin' Carol at Churchill

Then came the final leg. When I constructed the ticket, I kept in mind the horses I had touted in the Saturday edition of Cardinal Couple. So..Orb, Freedom Child, Palace Malice, Unlimited Budget were in. I added Oxbow and Golden Soul.

Palace Malice. They couldn't catch him after Smith took him to the lead at the top of the stretch.

I also tried a few exacta combinations, but couldn't seem to place one that had Palace Malice and Oxbow on the same ticket.

$447 on the 50 cent pick 4. A nice ending to a frustrating handicapping...but pleasant company...day.

Sonja placed only one bet on the entire day...busy socailizing...a win on Orb. Although he was making up ground in the stretch, he finished third.

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The latest installment of CARDINAL COUPLE Radio Hour is now up and posted in the SoundCloud archives. Click below to hear:

TWO CHIMPS AND A LADY

-Paulie

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Sunday Cardinal Couple -- Smithson-Willett leaving the softball program

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Smithson-Willett granted released from Softball

-Eight freshman make up 2013 recruiting class


( DAY 4 of 'Julie Free Zone' here at the Couple.)


Cardinal Couple has learned that freshman pitcher/outfielder Jasmine Smithson-Willett has been granted her request to be released from her softball scholarship at the University of Louisville. She was one of
three freshmen on the squad...along with Ally Vaughn and Brittany Sims. 

JSW played mostly in the outfield for the Cards, helping fill the left field spot when Jen Esteban was sidelined with a leg injury. She also appeared in the pitching circle twice for Sandy Pearsall's squad...giving up three hits and three runs in an early season appearance against UNLV and two runs in the final inning of the season for Louisville against UCLA.

Often, it is hard to crack an established and veteran lineup and the softball Cards certainly had one of those...all eight of the 2013 regular starters had been starters or "first off the bench" performers in the 2012 season.

Smithson-Willett came in with good pitching credentials, but with returning starter Caralisa Connell and transfer Rachel Le Coq putting up significantly good ERA numbers, JSW's chances to make any starts or lengthy appearances inside the circle never happened.

You have to wonder if that break might have occurred for her in her sophomore year. With just 10 returning players, her chances for a starting spot in the outfield looked possible...since Hannah Kiyohara is the only returning, starting outfielder that we're positive is coming back. The Louisville roster lists Jordan Trimble as a redshirt junior but other sources indicate she's finished her eligibility.

Maryssa Becker

It also could be that Smithson-Willett wants to be a pitcher primarily...and with both Connell and LeCoq returning for next season...it might be a tough rotation to crack....especially if incoming freshman Maryssa Becker can convert her high school success (26-0, 0.43 ERA, 313 strikeouts and 6A Oregon 2012 Player of the Year) to the college game.

Becker is having a huge senior year as well. Link below:

BECKER BURIES THE BATTERS

Becker and her North Medford teammates also won the 6A Oregon State Championship Saturday with a 2-1 victory where she hurled a no-hitter. Details also available at oregonlive.com.

She appears to be a pitcher that will have great success at Louisville and turned down a lot of high profile softball programs to cast her lot with the Cardinals.

We're proponents of the three pitcher rotation. We had hoped to see it this year. We'd love to see it next season. You can't argue with the success Pearsall had with Le Coq and Connell (46-14)....but adding a proven quality hurler like Becker gives Pearsall an outstanding addition to baffle THE AMERICAN and ACC batters in the future.  

It is not immediately known where JSW will end up. A potentially powerful and talented player that was stymied by an early season leg injury, lack of playing time and chances to prove her skills...we wish her the best wherever she lands and glad to have at least one season to see her play for the Red and Black.

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Autumn McDuffie

Speaking of freshmen, Louisville had eight that will join the Cardinal softball lineup for next season. Coach Pearsall has two high school pitchers (Maryssa Becker and Tiarra Sanabria), three outfielders  (Morgan Meyer, Jordan McNary and Nicole Pufahl), two infielders (Rachel Houck and Autumn McDuffie) and a catcher (Kristina Dillard) coming aboard. Several of the players are adept at other positions as well. The Louisville area and surrounding region are represented well...with half of the freshmen living within a three hour drive of campus.

Geographical breakdown:

Maryssa Becker   --    Medford, OR
Kristina Dillard   --    Annapolis, MD
Rachel Houck      --    Greenfield, IN
Autumn McDuffie    --     Louisville (PRP)
Morgan Meyer     --    Louisville  (Mercy)
Jordan McNary    --    Madisonville, KY
Nicole Pufahl      --    Moorpark, CA
Tiarra Sanabria   --    Williamstown, NJ

-Paulie

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