Box Score It must have been the lack of coin flip.  The Carthage College softball team (37-10, 11-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) had won three-straight elimination games at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Softball Regional Championship, with head coach Amy Gillmore losing the home-team coin flip twice.  There was no flip on Sunday, May 13, and no miracle finish, either, as No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan University (39-7) nipped No. 21 Carthage, 2-1, in a regional semifinal game at the Illinois Wesleyan Softball Field in Bloomington, Ill.
 
The Lady Reds, after losing a first-round game to Anderson University (31-10), 9-1, on Thursday, May 10, refused to fold and ran off three wins in a row out of the loser's bracket to reach the semifinals.  This was the first Carthage softball team to advance that far in regional play.  The 2010 team won its first game in Whitewater, Wis., before losing the next two.  Following the first-round loss to Anderson, Carthage eliminated Benedictine University (Ill., 33-11), 1-0, on Friday, May 11; eliminated No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (33-14), 4-1, on Saturday, May 12; and then sent Anderson (32-12) home, also on May 12, by a 6-1 margin. 
 
In the other first-round games on May 10, top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan (37-6) defeated eighth-seeded St. Norbert College (17-19), 4-1; fourth-seeded and No. 22 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (33-12) defeated fifth-seeded Fontbonne University (27-11), 6-1; and second-seeded, defending-national-champion and No. 3 Linfield College (39-5) blanked seventh-seeded Benedictine (Ill., 33-10), 3-0.
 
On Friday, May 11, St. Norbert (18-19) eliminated Fontbonne (27-12), 7-0; Illinois Wesleyan (38-6) edged Wisconsin-Eau Claire (33-13), 2-1; and Linfield (40-5) shut out  Anderson (31-11), 8-0.  On Saturday, May 12, Anderson (32-11) eliminated St. Norbert (18-20), 1-0, despite a complete-game no-hitter by the Green Knights' Stephanie Schmitt, and Linfield (41-5) blanked Illinois Wesleyan (38-7), 3-0, in the undefeated game.  

With its win over Carthage in the semifinals, Illinois Wesleyan advanced to a Sunday, May 13 championship-round game versus Linfield, but the Titans (39-8) fell to the Wildcats (42-5) by a 6-2 margin.  Carthage pitcher Krystina Leazer (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) was named to the all-tournament team.
 
In Carthage's loss to Illinois Wesleyan, the Lady Reds fell behind, 2-0, in the top of the first inning on a two-run home run by Keri Leach, her seventh of the year, off starting pitcher Krystina Leazer (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove).  The Lady Reds got a run back in the bottom half on an RBI-single by Abby Hanson.  Carthage got its leadoff batter, Katie Morman, on base in the third, but Jen Precht's attempt at a sacrifice bunt was waived off when she stepped backwards to avoid a tag along the first-base line.  Vicki Pyan then struck out swinging, and Morman was caught stealing on the same play to end the inning.
 
Carthage's best chance at a comeback came in the fifth when the Lady Reds loaded the bases with one out against Titans hurler Molly McCready.  McCready went three-and-two on pinch-hitter Amy Slattery before getting her on a swinging strike three.  The next batter, Vicki Pyan, was ahead in the count, three-and-one, and she fouled off three-straight pitches before striking out swinging to end the threat.  In the Carthage seventh, with two outs, Katie Morman just missed a game-tying home run that curled foul just before the leftfield pole.  Morman then filed to medium rightfield to end the game.
 
McCready (18-4) limited the Lady Reds to one run of four hits and three walks, while striking out seven batters.  Krystina Leazer, who pitched 33 of Carthage's 35 NCAA innings, allowed two runs on four hits and run walk, while striking out six.  She ended a brilliant 2012 season with a 28-7 record and a 2.00 earned run average.

“Krystina Leazer just pitched a great game,” said Carthage coach Amy Gillmore.  “She hung one change up to Keri Leach, and that turned out to be the difference.  We had our chances.  Katie Morman was an inch away from tying the game in the seventh.  We have nothing to hang our heads about.  We played a great game against the top-seeded team, and I would take this team any day over the team we lost to.  I pinch hit Amy Slattery for Jen Precht in the fifth inning, because Amy had been making better contact, and I was hoping for at least a fly ball.  That inning turned out to be a killer, and just couldn't capitalize on our opportunity.  I would have loved the chance to play defending-national-champion Linfield in the championship round, and that game would have given us a great chance to see where we stack up against a national-caliber-type team.  This team never gave up, never gave up on each other and never gave up on the coaches.  They fought every inning of every game in this tournament.  We have a good team coming back next year, and this experience is definitely going to help us in 2013.”