The Belhaven softball team is set to compete for a national championship.
After stamping an appearance as a six-seed in their first-ever College World Series in the NCAA Division III ranks, the Blazers (46-8) are just two games away from bringing a title back to Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson.
The team’s run began on Friday with a 5-2 win over three-seeded Case Western. Fortune was not on Belhaven’s side in the second game of the tournament as the squad fell to host East Texas Baptist, 3-2. With their backs against the wall, the Blazers took care of business in a 3-0 win over Tufts in an elimination matchup.
Belhaven advanced to the semi-final round of the CWS with a tall task ahead — take down top-seeded Linfield, a team that had only lost two games all season, twice. Head coach Kevin Griffin’s squad did not shy away from the competition. The Blazers blanked the Wildcats 6-0 in the opener courtesy of a complete game shutout from ace pitcher Kennedy Carruth. Smelling blood in the water, Belhaven left no room to be backdoored, walking off Linfield 4-3 to advance to the title series.
SB | FINAL | BEL 4, LIN 3
BLAZERS WIN, BLAZERS WIN, BLAZERS WIN
Belhaven is headed to the Division III WCWS Championship Series#GoGreen | #d3sb | @BelhavenSB_ pic.twitter.com/dtDEmmnkho
— Belhaven Blazers (@BelhavenBlazers) June 2, 2024
Now the stage is set for Belhaven to earn the first softball championship in program history in a best-of-three revenge series versus ETBU, a foe the Blazers have become quite acquainted with over the years.
“It’s a familiar environment. We’ve been here a lot over the years having been in the same conference with East Texas Baptist for six years before we changed over to the new conference that we’re in now,” Griffin said. “We feel like this is a home away from home for us. It’s a familiar opponent. We’ve played a lot of these same players for two-to-four years now. We feel like we have a good plan going in.”
A bulk of the team’s success in the College World Series has come off the heels of consistent valiant outings from Carruth, who Griffin has dubbed the best pitcher in college softball and the top candidate for the Division III Pitcher of the Year award.
Carruth, the reigning Collegiate College of the South (CCS) Pitcher of the Year, has been called upon repeatedly in the postseason, and stellar results have followed. The St. Francisville, La. native threw more than 450 pitches over the past week and struck out 40 batters, priming the Blazers for a championship run.
“I don’t have enough words to describe what she’s done for this program and what she’s meant to us,” Griffin said. “If I tried to pry the ball out of her hands, she wouldn’t let me do it. This is her last go-round. She’s the best pitcher in the country. We wouldn’t be where we are without her. She’s meant everything to this program for the past four years. She’s put blood, sweat, and tears into every outing that she’s given us.”
Another notable contributor to the team has been Anna Caime, the team’s catcher who has not only been behind home plate every game this season but has also led the team in hitting and even recorded the walk-off to send the Blazers to the championship series. Allie Gordon, the reigning CCS Player of the Year, has also helped fuel Belhaven offensively down the stretch. She currently holds six of nine NCAA hitting records.
The Blazers have been a mainstay in the postseason throughout Griffin’s 13 seasons at the helm. While Griffin is confident that his current team has what it takes to win it all, he’s pointing the spotlight at what the players have accomplished rather than his own personal accolades.
“It’s not really about me. I want it for them. I want it for our players,” Griffin said. “I think we just need to play our game and do what we’ve done. There’s not really anything we need to change. We’re at this point for a reason and there’s not a lot we need to do differently, except go play.”
Game one between Belhaven and ETBU will begin on Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT and can be watched here.
