Chadron Cardinal softball continued their busy start to the season over the weekend at the Lexington Invite. The Cardinals went 1-2 to finish 6th in the tournament, losing to Southern Valley/Alma and Highway 6, while also defeating Alliance.
The Cardinals began the tournament with a rematch from the season opener against Southern Valley/Alma. The Cardinals got a great start to the game, putting up two runs in the top of the first. They managed to maintain a one run lead until Southern Valley/Alama scored four in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-6 lead. Chadron only had one hit in the game and could not come back, losing 8-6.
That set up a losers bracket game with panhandle rival Alliance. A strong nine run first inning propelled Chadron to the win. They added seven more in the top of the second to win 16-2. Chadron had 13 hits in the game with Jae Gooder getting credit for the win.
Chadron then moved into the fifth place game against Highway 6 (Holdrege, Hastings Adams Central, Minden) and despite outhitting the Trailblazers, lost 12-3. Chadron gave up six errors and allowed Highway 6 to put up a crooked number in the top of the third to finish fifth in the Lexington Invite.
Chadron will now head to Alliance on Tuesday to take on the Bulldogs in a JV/Varsity matchup. After that they will get a week off before having two home games the first week of September.