A fourth-place finish in the Southwest District regular season standings may not have accurately reflected how much Carroll County’s junior varsity softball team improved over the latter half of the year. The rest of the district certainly knows now after the Cavaliers upset regular-season champion Abingdon and No. 2 seed Tazewell en route to the SWD Tournament championship.

“They just kept improving and they worked hard. They didn’t always make the right decision, but as they went along they improved and started doing the things they were told,” Carroll County JV softball coach Cindy Edwards said. “Maybe it didn’t click early in the year, but toward the end it was clicking more.”

Carroll’s championship journey started May 21 with a road game against regular-season champion Abingdon, a team that swept the Cavaliers during the regular season. Starter Kaitlin Farmer allowed just one run in a complete-game effort. She benefited from solid defense and good run support at the plate as Carroll pulled off the 7-1 upset.

That win set up another road date at Tazewell, the No. 2 seed, the following day. The Cavs split the regular-season series against the Bulldogs, but used the same formula to win 5-2 to claim the district tournament title. Farmer again pitched a complete game and got lots of help from her teammates.

“We had been competitive and playing hard, but I felt like we hit the ball and we played real solid defense and Kaitlin Farmer did a great job pitching,” Edwards said. “She pitched both games and defensively we did a good job behind her.”

Carlie Stillwell had a huge tournament for the Cavs, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a double against Abingdon and 3-for-4 with a double at Tazewell. Joslyn Gallimore scored three runs and had a double against Abingdon, while Gracie Lindsey went 3-for-4 and scored four runs. Farmer struck out six and had a triple against the Falcons. She struck out seven and tripled in the championship win over Tazewell. Bridgett Barns was 2-for-4, while Johanna Gallimore had two doubles and scored two runs. Eden Durnil scored twice, walked twice and laid down a sacrifice bunt in the title game.

“We had different kids step up. Where Eden (Durnil) and Gracie (Lindsey) led us early, these kids stepped up toward the end and helped offensively,” Edwards said. “And Kaitlin Farmer hit the ball really well and did a great job pitching toward the end. Eden did a great job pitching also.”

By winning the SWD Tournament, Carroll finished the season 13-8. There were tough stretches along the way, but the team kept getting better despite ending the season against tougher competition. Not bad for a team that had just one player back from last year’s SWD regular-season champions and a team that featured 10 eighth graders and just three freshmen.

“Early on, I don’t think our schedule was as tough, but at the end they were facing the competition every time we played. They may have struggled, but they lost four or five games by one run and a couple of games in extra innings,” Edwards said. “They were right there in several games but just couldn’t get over the hump. They put it all together in the tournament and it was a great learning experience for them.”

The 2010 Carroll County JV softball team consists of Gracie Lindsey, Joslyn Gallimore, Katie Nunn, Lauren Jennings, Bailey Matney, Kaitlin Farmer, Eden Durnil, Morgan Ayers, Kayla Waller, Carlie Stillwell, Caitlin Mosley, Bridgett Barns, and Johanna Gallimore.