The Cardinals softball team run-ruled Paola twice on Tuesday night, buoyed by two stellar pitching performances and an onslaught from the plate.

Senior Samantha Claire led the way from the pitcher’s circle in the first game, shutting out Paola on the way to a 10-0 victory. In the second game, junior Olivia O’Toole also held Paola scoreless and the Cardinals won 12-0.

The pair of wins moved Eudora to 8-0 to start the season.

“Our patience helped a lot both in the field and at the bat,” senior Alexia Born said. “And I also think just being prepared at practice and coming into this game ready for anything that’s gonna happen.”

Despite starting game one slow, the Cardinals’ bats came alive in the third inning. Born hit an RBI double to get the Cardinals on the board. Senior Reese Pattison did the same to double the lead. Sophomore Lori Brooks hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-0. In the next inning, senior Jaiden Burris hit a two-run homerun.

After building the lead to 8-0, two passed balls led to runs and clinched the Cardinals’ run-rule win.

In game two, the Cardinals kept their momentum. Junior Olivia O’Toole left Paola hitters baffled with devastating speed changes on her pitches, and the batting lineup got the runs started early, building a 3-0 lead in the first frame.

After jumping ahead to 12-0 thanks to a barrage of hits and a big RBI double from senior Maddy Arnold, Claire came back in to pitch and ice the game with a perfect final inning.

“With the wind blowing in like that, sometimes they’re trying to hit the ball too hard and thus you’ll pop the ball up,” head coach Bill Finucane said. “But they did a good job of kind of getting out of that and just doing their regular swings, and as I said, making contact and putting the ball in play. They did a good job and thus were able to score a lot of runs.”

The Cardinals relied on their communication and energy to help spark their offense after the slow start. Sticking together as a team and ironing out the small details will be key as the team works to keep improving.

“We’ve, like, grown up together,” Burris said. “So, I think just staying together and working hard is all we need.”

Finucane said the team has some tough games ahead, including a bout with Tonganoxie on Thursday and a pair of road games against currently-undefeated Spring Hill. Those matchups will help challenge the team and prepare them for the rest of the season, he said.

“We are off to a fast start, a good start,” Finucane said. “And so, I hope we can just keep it going.”

Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]