The Simpson softball team ended its remarkable season in Salem, Va, in the Division III Women’s College World Series semifinals.

Back in the regional tournament, the Storm was dubbed the “Cardiac Kids” by many fans in Storm Nation and Head Coach Brent Matthias for their come-from-behind wins and for always coming through late in games.

The term was used throughout the postseason and was frequently used by the announcers on the NCAA.com live stream.

Many Simpson softball fans made the 15-hour car ride to Salem, Va., packing the stands for all four games. One player’s family even traveled with flags and flag poles that were brought to every tailgate throughout the season.

“When you talk about Storm Nation, it’s a very contagious thing, but very positive,” Matthias said. “They always say, ’your attitude is contagious, is yours worth catching?’ and Storm Nation, there are a lot of people out there having a lot of fun.”

Fans were far from disappointed with the results of Thursday’s game and the first game of the WCWS. 

The Storm faced off against Mount Union to begin the World Series. 

The Storm struck first in the bottom of the third after a bases-loaded walk. However, Mount Union would strike back at the top of the sixth, scoring three. 

Playing to their name, the Cardiac Kids, the Storm didn’t let the two-run deficit stop them, and answered right back with a three-run half inning in the bottom of the sixth. 

The Storm won the first game 4-3, advancing to the second game of the series.

On Friday, May 29, they ran into reigning national champions Trine in game two of the double-elimination tournament, and it was an uncharacteristic game for the Storm. 

Simpson went down right away as Trine scored three runs in each of the first two innings to take a 6-0 lead. The uncharacteristic part of the Storm was the fact that none of the runs were earned. 

Simpson committed three errors in the first two innings, keeping each inning alive and allowing Trine to score all six runs on two outs.

Although the Storm were able to cut the Trine deficit to five in the fourth inning, Trine was able to extend the lead and eventually walk it off with a 9-1 win in five innings.

In game three, the Cardiac Kids came back to life. The Storm flipped to the opposite side of the bracket after the loss to Trine to face perennial powerhouse Linfield. This was the fourth straight WCWS appearance for the Wildcats, who finished third the past two seasons.

The Storm answered every Wildcat score early in the game as each team scored two in the second inning and one in the third. Simpson was able to take a 4-3 lead heading into the sixth inning before senior Megan Heidelbauer crushed a two-run homer to dead center field. 

Down three in the seventh, Linfield would still not go away. With two outs, two strikes and two runners on base, Wildcat senior Cydney Hess hit a three-run homer just off the glove of Simpson left fielder Mackenzie James to tie the game. 

After the Storm got out of a jam at the top of the eighth, the Cardiac Kids came back out to play. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, junior Brie Ginnaty came through. 

A bloop single just out of reach of a diving Linfield left fielder brought home the game-winning run, and the Storm lived to play another day.

“Everybody performs at their best on this team with their back against the wall,” said senior center fielder Ashlyn Steen. 

In the semifinals, the Storm needed to beat the undefeated Redland Bulldogs twice to make it to the best-of-three championship series. Simpson fell behind early, going down 5-0 with all five runs coming in the second inning. 

“I let it get out of hand and maybe should have made a change earlier to limit the damage because after that inning we held them in check for the most part,” Matthias said in a post-game interview. 

However, Storm junior Katie Shaner provided a spark with an RBI double in the third inning and a solo homer in the fifth to cut the lead to 5-3, but the comeback attempt fell just short. The Storm lost 6-3 to close out the season 41-8.

The third-place finish was the Storm’s best since they won the National Championship in 1999.

“I’m just really proud of us and really proud of what we put together and built,” Steen said in a post-game interview. “That’s not just the seniors, that’s the whole team, the program.”

The Storm will be losing Heidelbauer, Steen and Emma LaFave, all seniors who started consistently for the Storm and earned numerous awards, records and accomplishments this season. 

“It’s hard to play a losing game like softball,” Heidelbauer said. “Even if you go four for ten, that’s a .400, great batting average, but you’re still failing more times than you’re succeeding, but this team made it fun, and it felt like a winning game when we played a losing game.”

Without a doubt, Matthias and his team will work this offseason to restore these big bats and the go-to arm and continue the program’s vast success.