St. Bonifacius, Minn. – Only one team gets to win the last game of the season, a hard truth that every team must face this time of year.  Despite a fantastic effort, the Crown softball team won't get to be that team this year, as the Storm lost to Minnesota Morris in the opening game of the 2016 UMAC softball tournament on Tuesday by a score of 11-8.

Hosting the single elimination game against the fifth seeded Cougars, the Storm couldn't have gotten off to a better start.  After Liz King pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, Janelle Williams tripled to right center to lead off the game, and after a Cassidy Valenzuela walk and a groundout, Sofia Palacios lined a home run over the right-centerfield wall to put the Storm out front, 3-0.

The game would prove to be a back and forth affair, however, and the Cougars answered back with two runs in the top of the third.  Crown took advantage of a throwing error and a wild pitch to answer right back in the bottom half, making the score 5-2 after three innings.
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Cougars were aided by a passed ball and pushed across an unearned run in the fifth, but once again Crown answered with a pair of runs.  Marissa Becerra led off the inning with a single and Palacios absolutely crushed her second home run of the game, a no-doubter to left center, which left the score at 7-3 in favor of the Storm.
 
With just two innings, and six outs to go, for the Storm to advance, things took a tragic turn in the sixth.  The Cougars led off the inning with a home run of their own, pulling to within 7-4 and followed that up with a double.  After a groundout, the Cougars strung together four singles and benefitted from three Crown errors and a wild pitch to hang up seven runs before the Storm could stop the bleeding.

A shaken Storm team went 1-2-3 in the sixth and the Cougars beautifully manufactured another unearned run with a pair of sacrifice bunts after a single and an error to start the inning.

With just three outs left to save their season and trailing 11-7 heading into the final frame, the Storm prepared for one final rally.

Valenzuela led off the inning with a double, but was out at third trying to stretch it into a triple.  After a groundout brought Crown to the brink, things got interesting.

Palacios singled for her fourth hit of the game, and was lifted for pinch runner Kaitlin Ruiter.  Senior Sarah Petkau then doubled to left, scoring Ruiter and breathing new life into the home team.  Cearra Dulaney and King followed by working 3-2 counts and earning free passes, bringing the winning run to the plate in the form of pinch hitter Amanda Morrison.

After opening up with a 2-0 count, Morrison looked at a pair of strikes before swinging through strike three.  The Cougars prevailed 11-8 and advance to the double-elimination portion of the playoffs.

Palacios finished 4-4 with a school record tying five RBI and two runs scored to go along with her two home runs (which set a new single-game record).  Valenzuela and Becerra each had two hits and scored twice.

King took the loss, allowing 15 hits with just one strikeout against a Morris team that thrives on making contact, but was also done in by five errors behind her as the freshman allowed just four earned runs on the day.

The loss marked the end of the road for five Crown seniors, Petkau, Dulaney, Hillary Brondsema, Kirby Beers, and Lauren Spatenka.  Each made major and lasting contributions to the program and will be sorely missed.

The 2016 season was a great one for Crown, and another step forward for a program that endured four straight winless seasons in the not-too-distant past.  The end is always difficult, but in time the Storm will be able to look back on the 2016 campaign with great pride.