BY SCOTT PASKE KSHSAA Covered WICHITA – History will show Bishop Carroll won its unrivaled 15th state softball title in convincing fashion over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at Wilkins Stadium. But when the Golden Eagles unpack memories years from now of their 12-2, run-rule victory in six innings in the Class 5A championship game, it’s likely they’ll also recall the suspense-filled semifinal that got them there.
With their title hopes on the verge of extinction, Carroll rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh to edge Maize South 6-5, foiling the Mavericks’ bid for their first state title. Carroll then took the momentum and ran – and hit – in the ensuing finale, belting and blooping 15 of them while Aquinas stung itself with four errors. "Once you do that, you’ve got to finish it,’” Carroll coach Steve Harshberger said of his team’s comeback that produced the penultimate win in a 27-4 season.
“They came out and finished it, so it was a lot of fun. We had to get through the first one, though. Maize South played a good game.
” The Eagles’ first victory of the season, an 8-6 decision over Maize South, was Harshberger’s 200th since he began coaching at Carroll in 2014. His 225th – the one that put the Eagles in the championship – came against the same opponent and required some gumption. “We knew the pressure was on, but we work on pressure situations all year long,” said first baseman Cambell Riordan, who hit an RBI single during the l.
