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Team of the Year

Softball Today Magazine's 18U Team of the Year
(reprinted with permission, © Softball Today Magazine)

Friday, February 01, 2008
 
Carolina Cardinals Soar as 18U 'Team of the Year' 

With a commitment to furthering the sport of fastpitch softball, working to position their players to maximize opportunities to play at the collegiate level and a recent ASA National Championship win, the 18-under (18U) Carolina Cardinals were named this year’s Softball Today Magazine’s 18U ‘Team of the Year.’

When the Carolina Cardinals were first organized in 1989, North Carolina high schools still offered only slow pitch softball, which meant that no North Carolina high school players were being considered for college softball scholarships. After learning what college coaches were looking for, Coach Ray Chandler started laying the groundwork and the Carolina Cardinals were the first 18U fastpitch ASA team registered in North Carolina.

With its slow pitch history, North Carolina was always behind the Western and Midwestern states, when it came to fastpitch. Bringing the ASA National Championship crown home to North Carolina speaks volumes of the progress the state has made in youth fastpitch softball.

This past ASA Nationals in Owensboro, Kentucky, August 1-6, 2006, wasn’t the Cardinals first visit. Actually, the team has quite a few notches in the record book – the 2003, 2005 and 2006 ASA N.C. State Championships, 9th Place in the 2003 ASA National Championship, 2004 North Carolina State Games Championship, 9th Place 2005 ASA Nationals, and the list goes on.

“Anytime we have been fortunate enough to earn a berth to participate in the ASA National Tournament, we felt so honored just to be there,” said Chandler. But in 2006, the Cardinals had what Chandler terms “the closest thing to a dream team I’ve ever had.” Ten of the 2006 Carolina Cardinals are playing in college now, and seven more have committed to schools for the fall of 2007.

At the National Tournament, the pitching duties were shared in a two-pitcher rotation of Mendy McKenzie, who is now attending Western Carolina University, and Faith Sutton, supplemented by North Carolina’s High School ‘Player of the Year’ Gina Allen. Brittany McKinney and Brittany Robinson shared the catching duties, giving up one stolen base with six pickoffs. Eryn Teague, who is attending Villanova University, had several clutch hits while playing “flawless defense” at first base. Anna Roberts and Ellen Scott, who is currently attending Princeton University, shared duties at second base. Destiny Covington, who is now playing for Virginia Tech, and sister Chasity, led the team in hitting. Chasity hit four home runs, while sister Destiny consistently maintained a 2.5-second sprint speed to first base. Whitney Williams, who typically batted second, did an “excellent job getting bunts down and slapping successfully to get on base,” shared Chandler.

Additional Cardinal standouts include: shortstop Sam Murad; outfielder Jessica McFadden; third baseman/catcher Jessica Boni; Amber Walker, who is now attending Roanoke College; Krystal Hawkins, who is now attending North Carolina State University; Brythe Blankenship, who is now attending Furman University; and Jenna Eatmon, who will be attending Liberty University in the fall of 2007.

Roberts and Murad are currently attending the University of North Carolina this school year; while their Cardinal teammates – Robinson, Sutton, McKinney – will meet them there in the fall of 2007. Williams will join teammate Gina Allen at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. And Chasity Covington will join sister Destiny at Virgina Tech next fall.

Nine players off the first Cardinals team earned scholarships or signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at the collegiate level. In the organization’s history, the total number of Carolina Cardinals recruited for collegiate teams is 87. Additionally, 11 former Carolina Cardinals players have coached or are coaching at the collegiate level. “From the very beginning of the 2006 Cardinals season, it was obvious that this team had something more,” said Coach Chandler, the only youth fastpitch coach in the state of North Carolina to receive the North Carolina Amateur Softball Association’s Hall of Fame/Hall of Honor for his significant contributions to the Amateur Softball Association program in the state.

“Their expectations were high,” he continued. “Nothing seemed out of their reach. They expected to play well. They expected to win. These girls put forth so much effort to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. It was as if they knew they could do it from the time we qualified for the Nationals and they expected to do it. They set their focus on winning the National Tournament and never lost sight of that goal.”

Carolina Cardinals Softball Today Magazine's 2013 "Team of the Year"

18U Carolina Cardinals Take Home Softball Today's Team of The Year Honors

By Dave Utnik

It took three years for the Carolina Cardinals to get to Salem, VA. A journey defined not by wins or losses, but by the memory of a beloved coach.

The seasons changed. Along the way, some players did too. But the Cardinals remained resolute in their quest -- never wavering in their belief that they would one day honor team founder Ray Chandler by capturing an ASA National Championship.

It wasn't supposed to take three years. But the wait only made the destination more meaningful. Before Chandler passed away on Sept. 23, 2010, the Cardinals considered themselves contenders. And rightfully so. The program that Chandler formed in 1989 is loaded with talent. So much so that two squads eventually pooled their skills to create a U18 team that reached nationals in 2011 and 2012. 

"The theme of playing every time out was the memory of our founder Ray Chandler," said Cardinals coach Rick McHone. They overcame injuries to two star players and a stunning 1-0 loss in the 2012 national finals and still the Cardinals "played for Ray." Even after slugger Taylor Woods broke her leg and UNC recruit Elena Covert suffered a quad injury, nothing got in their way. The Cardinals went undefeated in Salem to win the ASA crown and achieved yet another honor in Chandler's memory by becoming the Softball Today Magazine U18 ASA Team of the Year.  

The Cardinals, who are also coached by assistants Mike Calloway, Vic Scott and Jamie Harris, out-played an 89-team field -- occasionally in dramatic fashion. They combined terrific pitching from Katie Williford, Lacey Fox, Sarah Davis and Lexi Shubert with timely hitting and some sensational defense to win the program's second title since 2006.

Aquilla “Kiwi” Mateen led the team with a 4 for 4 performance in a 4-0 victory over the Pennsylvania Sports Connection in the winner's bracket finals and the Cardinals rallied from an early one-run deficit to defeated the Sports Connection once again in the title game. Shubert tossed a complete-game three-hitter and Mateen provided the offensive fireworks once again by going 3 for 4. Catcher Bailey Bjorson had two hits.

"This ASA National Championship was the culmination of several years of hard work," coach McHone said. "It took a dedication to team and to each other, and of many different pieces put together, building towards a common goal."

It took three years for the Carolina Cardinals to get to Salem, VA. 

For the players -- Kiersten Berrier, Ashley Best, Destiny DeBerry, Bjorson, Madison Carter, Davis, Fox, Christiana Gable, Meredith Harris, Ashlea Hunter, Brea Lawson, Tara Loken, Mateen, Haley Pace, Shubert, Haley Stewart, Taylor Wike, Williford, Logan Wood, Mellena Helms and Wood -- it was the journey that made the final result meaningful.