Ravens’ remarkable run comes up just short in softball title game

Midnight’s bells rang out for Sussex Tech softball just before the girls nearly pulled off the unthinkable June 2. 

No. 12 Sussex Tech’s Cinderella season ended with Caravel Academy’s 3-2 walk-off win in the DIAA championship game, but not before the Ravens clawed their way back and forced the Bucs into the walk-off scenario.

“That comeback really brought us to life, and we knew that we were really in it, and there was a chance for us to really come back,” said Sussex Tech senior Madison Myers. “I don't think [Caravel] expected us to battle as hard as we did; I think they expected it to be a walk in the park.”

No. 2 Caravel opened up the scoring when junior Leah Richardson scored on senior Payton Losten’s single up the middle. Freshman pitcher Cierra Lewis and the Ravens’ defense tightened things up in the second and third innings, facing only the minimum across the two frames. 

Her counterpart, freshman Kaley Arrowsmith, was also working efficiently, facing the minimum through the first four innings.

Caravel threatened in the bottom of the fourth with two runners in scoring position and two outs, but those Bucs were left stranded when senior Hayley Lawson squeezed the third out of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Losten picked up her second RBI of the game when the senior drove in Makenzie Hunter to double Caravel’s lead to 2-0. The Ravens’ defense wasn’t rattled, however, and despite the Bucs having two runners on with one out, Sussex Tech escaped with only a 2-0 deficit.

“No one expected us to be here at all, especially being the 12th seed and going up against No. 1, and with Caravel winning it every year,” Myers said. “I'm proud of all of us, and I think we gave it our all.”

Senior Chloe Warrington showed how unfazed the Ravens were by reaching first on a bloop single to open the seventh inning.

Warrington made her way to third when Myers roped a double into left field and represented the tying run at second. 

“We're capable of so much more than everybody tells us that we can do,” Warrington said. “A lot of people like to sleep on us, but we love to sneak back up on them.”

Standing on third, Warrington watched as junior Adrianna Heck’s fly ball sliced into foul territory in shallow right field. When eighth-grader Alyvia Harris made a nice catch, Warrington raced home to cut the Bucs’ lead in half. 

With two outs, Lewis beat out a throw to first to reach on an infield single, allowing Myers to tie the game.

“It was something I've never experienced before,” Warrington said. “It was just happy chaos.”

With momentum on their side, the Ravens’ belief was at a game-high as they took the field in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Isabella Mendez started the Bucs' turn at the bat with a walk before a sacrifice bunt put her in scoring position. Richardson appeared to win the game for Caravel when she lined a ball into right field, but Myers came up firing and delivered a strike to catcher Bella Brittingham, who caught the ball up the third baseline.

As Brittingham reached for the tag, Mendez went out of the base path and entered the infield before nearly reaching the first baseline before diving toward home plate. Caravel began celebrating because Mendez was initially ruled safe, but after the umpires convened, it was ruled she was too far away from the allowed running lane. 

However, the joy was short-lived, as Hunter sent a dying missile into centerfield the next at-bat. As the hard-hit liner began to fall, junior Mariah McCabe raced in from her centerfield position and nearly made a brilliant catch to end the inning. But, the ball dropped just short of her glove and Richardson raced home to clinch Caravel’s fifth straight championship with a 3-2 walk-off win.

As the Bucs celebrated, the Ravens were grappling with the emotions that come with a close loss in the title game, but coach Shannon Brown refused to allow that to be the only thing they felt.

“Nobody expected us to be here, but we made it this far, and we showed them exactly why we should be here, and they need to keep their head high,” Brown said. “This is a big stage, and to get this far, we had to win many softball games; we upset some teams that didn't think that we were going to do that. The girls just have to keep their heads up. We have so many more years to go, we have a freshman pitcher that is excelling in her place on this team.”