Belhaven softball heading to College World Series for first time in program history

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Belhaven softball has been eligible for the NCAA postseason for four seasons. In those four seasons, the Blazers have made a Regional all four years, a Super Regional three of those years, and now a College World Series for the first time.

“It’s hard to get to this point of the season just to make the College World Series,” head coach Kevin Griffin said. “We’ve had some really good teams over the years. It’s just an honor to be here because of how hard it is.”

The Blazers clinched their spot in the College World Series with a ninth-inning walk-off home run from junior catcher Anna Caime.

“Going into it, Kennedy [Carruth] came up to me and said, ‘I can’t pitch anymore. I need you to hit it for me,’ so I was like I can see what I can do,” Caime said. “That’s honestly a dream for everybody; a walk-off. It’s just crazy.”

“Like Anna said I went up to her in her last at-bat, I said, ‘Anna I’m tired, I know you’re tired, so please just end it right here,’” Carruth said. “I think I was in the dugout crying because of how tired I was. I look up and all I see is the ball off the bat and I was like oh my gosh. In the video, you can hear me scream, ‘oh my gosh! oh my gosh!’ and literally that’s the feeling I felt. My whole body went numb. That’s the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Last year, the Blazers faced the same opponent, Berry College, in the Super Regional, but failed to score a run against the Vikings in the two-game sweep. This year, the Blazers were not going to be content with the same result.

“I think this year we’re just giving it all we have because this is it,” said graduate third baseman Allie Gordon. “We don’t have another COVID year, we don’t have another COVID year after that, this is the last year. So, just to go out there and be the first team that’s been to the World Series for Belhaven, I think it’s really special, just being able to go out there and experience it, and whatever may come with it, it’s going to be special.”

The Blazers are the 6-seed heading to Marshall, TX and will face 3-seed Case Western Reserve University in round one.

The players are familiar with playing away from home. Of their 49 games this season, 34 of them have come away from Jackson. The Blazers are also familiar with playing in Marshall, as their Regionals in 2022 and 2023 were played at the field all of the CWS games will be held at.

“I feel like we have a pretty good routine on the road, we are very familiar with Marshall,” Griffin said. “Obviously, we know where to go in Marshall to eat, we’ve got our meeting rooms, we have everything planned out, and I don’t think a whole lot’s going to change other than our opponent. We’re going to step on the field and play Case Western, who we’ve never played before, but we feel good because we’ve got a lot of information. I don’t think it’ll be a whole lot different for us. We’ve just got to keep it all in perspective and realize it’s just another game at this point, and treat it like that.”

Five wins separate the Blazers from the glory of being national champions.

“I think we’re pumped, the whole team is pumped,” Gordon said. “This is something we’ve never done before. As a whole, everybody is just ready to go out there and play, just be there the whole week, just have the experience of going out there and compete overall. Everyone’s pumped. We’re ready to go out there and get it done, and hopefully bring back another piece of hardware to Jackson.”

Game one between Belhaven and CWRU is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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