The Carthage College softball team (25-12, 7-7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) was eliminated from the 2009 CCIW Softball Tournament on May 2 with a 7-0 loss to top-seeded, conference-champion and No. 12 Illinois Wesleyan University (32-4) at the Illinois Wesleyan Softball Field in Bloomington, Ill. On May 1, fourth-seeded Carthage lost a first-round game to the Titans (31-3), 1-0, before bouncing back to eliminate third seeded Augustana College (Ill., 28-14), 2-0. Second-seeded North Central College (26-10) defeated third-seeded Augustana College (Ill., 28-13), 6-2, in the other first-round contest, and the Cardinals (27-10) outlasted Illinois Wesleyan (31-4), 8-6 in 13 innings, in a winner’s bracket contest.
Carthage made its 12th CCIW tournament appearance, and coach Amy Gillmore made her ninth appearance in 10 years. Illinois Wesleyan (34-4) went on to win the tournament by defeating North Central (27-12) twice, 1-0 in 10 innings and 5-3.
In the May 1 first-round game, Illinois Wesleyan scored the game’s lone run in the first inning. Monica Urban was hit by a pitch to open the game. She stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Valerie Hackett walked. Maggie Olson pinch ran for Hackett, and Urban scored on the front end of a double steal. The Titans loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Carthage pitcher Kelsey Epping got Natalie Chase and Kayla Mahoney on back-to-back infield pop flies to end the inning. Carthage’s Kari Peterson walked to open the Carthage seventh inning. One out later, Nikki Soreng forced Peterson at second on a fielder’s choice. Soreng advanced on a wild pitch, but Epping grounded out to shortstop to end the game. Christy Engel (16-2) was the winning pitcher for Illinois Wesleyan. Engel blanked the Lady Reds on five hits and one walk over seven innings, while striking out 10 batters. Epping (14-5) gave up one run on four hits and four walks, while striking out six.
In the May 1 Augustana (Ill.) game, Carthage jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Jacquelyn Tassone was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Kari Peterson followed with a two-run homer. That was all the support that pitcher Allie Benthusen needed. Benthusen (10-6) blanked the Vikings on four hits and no walks over seven innings, while striking out six batters. Jackie Gill (13-8) took the loss for Augustana (Ill.).
In the May 2 Illinois Wesleyan contest, IWU opened up a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning. With one out, Monica Urban was hit by a pitch and stole second. One out later, Allison Ward walked, and both runners moved up on a passed ball. Valerie Hackett followed with a single up the middle to score both runs. The next batter, Kris Lee, hit a two-run homer to center. The Titans added two runs in the fourth. Natalie Chase led off with a single and was forced at second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Christy Engel. Engel stole second and scored on a triple to left-center by Urban. Lisa Narotsky reached base on an error by Lady Reds rightfielder Nikki Soreng, allowing Engel to score. Illinois Wesleyan made it 7-0 in the seventh. Ward reached second base on an error by Carthage third baseman Stephanie Hueramo, advanced to third on a single by Hackett and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lee. Carthage managed only one hit off Titan starting pitcher Christy Engel (17-3), a double by Jess Fijolek in the third. Engel worked the first five innings before giving to Lauren James in the sixth. Kelsey Epping (14-6) took the loss. Epping allowed the first five runs on three hits and three walks over three innings before giving way to Alyssa Schrader.
Carthage pitcher Kelsey Epping (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Downs-Tri Valley, 14-6, 0.83 earned run average, .137 opponent batting average) was named National Fastpitch Coaches Association second-team All-Great Lake Region.
Five Lady Reds were named All-CCIW. Pitcher Kelsey Epping (Jr., Bloomington, Ill./Downs-Tri Valley, 14-6, 0.83 earned run average, .137 opponent batting average), shortstop Kari Peterson (So., Blooming Prairie, Minn., .364, seven home runs, 24 RBI) and designated hitter Alyssa Schrader (Fr., Plainfield, Ill./South, .273, five home runs, 19 RBI) were named first-team All-CCIW, while first baseman Jacquelyn Tassone (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill./South, .275, eight doubles, 12 RBI) and outfielder Stephanie Noel (Jr., Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township, .333, eight doubles, four home runs, 23 RBI) earned second-team all-conference honors. Epping, Peterson and Noel were each named second-team All-CCIW in 2008, while Tassone was a first-team honoree.