SEASON ENDS BY THE NARROWEST OF MARGINS
May 16, 2026
Written by Lana Carlone
RIVERSIDE: Even in the best of games there can only be one winner, and in postseason competition, that often comes down to execution in clutch moments and the smallest of details.
The Wolves had been quite successful this season by emphasizing fast starts and attacking opponents early in most games but found themselves down by two runs in the top of the first after the Sea Kings strung 3 singles together. Palos Verdes added one more run to their total in the third inning on a homerun before King started to put some quality at bats together at the plate.
The Wolves collected eight hits in the contest but also struck out nine times and stranded 7 runners on base including a critical bases loaded, no outs situation in the bottom of the fourth inning that yielded no runs. Kenzie Carlone took the loss for the Wolves, surrendering three runs on four hits in four innings while striking out five. Ryder Bishop came on in relief giving up no runs on no hits while striking out two. In the end, King lost by the narrowest of margins, 2-3.
Losses usually hurt, playoff losses hurt more, and season ending losses hurt the most, especially for those who put in the amount of time and effort that we do to prepare and play the best softball that we can every time we take the field. We felt great coming into this game with a healthy squad and we liked our odds against anyone having to beat us at the den where we had only lost one home game all season. But it had been a long time since we fell behind by two runs in the first inning, having only happened once before all year, and that was our loss to Norco in round two of league competition.
We looked a little shell shocked that the Sea Kings came to play and that shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. Every team in division one is legit and you have to assume that everyone is going to bring their “A” game. With two solid arms on our staff we knew they would keep us in it and they did. Kenzie got stronger as the game went on and Ryder came in and did a great job shutting down their momentum at the plate. They both complemented each other so well all season. Unfortunately, in spite of collecting eight hits on offense, we missed some big moments at the plate.
We had two innings late in the game with multiple runners on and less than two outs and we couldn’t push the runs across. We also had a couple of baserunning opportunities slip through our fingers and a controversial call in the middle of our fifth inning rally that definitely hurt our cause. When you outhit the other team as much as we did and still fall short, those are the tough ones to swallow. But timing is everything and it just wasn’t meant to be for us today.
Overall, we are really proud of what this squad accomplished together as they compiled a record of 22-7 and made tons of memories on and off of the field. Our seven seniors are on to the next chapter as collegiate student-athletes and we are so grateful for the time we had with them in King gear.
For me, the opportunity to coach King Softball the past three seasons has been an incredible blessing in my life that I never saw coming. It has been a privilege to work with so many talented young women at the den and to coach alongside an incredible staff who have become family to me. Nothing is guaranteed, nobody knows what the future holds, so for now I am just really thankful for what we have shared while all wearing the same shades of red and blue.
