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Joy was the theme of the night for the Carolina Forest softball team on Tuesday.

The Panthers earned a 5-3 win over Conway to clinch the region series, a victory that was sparked by a late-game comeback.

But even after a game where the on-field action and excitement took center stage, Carolina Forest head coach Richard Howard couldn鈥檛 help but smile when talking about how much he enjoyed simply watching his team have fun.

鈥淭his is super positive. It鈥檚 a joy to watch this,鈥� Howard said after the win. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so much fun to watch them out there. They laugh, smile, and just have fun playing. It鈥檚 really a joy for me鈥� It鈥檚 enjoyable to watch them play the way that they can play. When they put everything together, they鈥檙e just awesome. And this is building and building and building.鈥�

There were plenty of reasons for the smiles on Tuesday night for the Panthers. Pitcher Lydia Gardner was dominant, working all seven innings and settling in for multiple late shutdown frames.

Carolina Forest got on the board in the first inning courtesy of extra-base hits from Natalie Nesheiwat and Kylie French. The Panthers led 2-0 after the first inning, but Conway took the lead in the third after Meredith Thompson notched a two-RBI hit to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Gardner, after surrendering the third-inning runs, stole the show for the rest of the way for the Panthers. She tossed a gem in the circle, keeping Carolina Forest in the game and shutting down the Conway offense throughout the late innings.

鈥淲hen Lydia is in there, she brings a leadership quality that is hard to find, especially in high school,鈥� Howard said of Gardner. 鈥淚t鈥檚 100% leadership. She鈥檚 always positive. She always has a good attitude. Even when things aren鈥檛 going her way, she stays positive. She has changed our team dramatically with her presence. She keeps everybody up and she keeps us in every game.鈥�

After multiple innings of zeroes on the scoreboard, the Panthers broke the scoring drought in the bottom of the sixth inning with a go-ahead RBI from Kaysen Warehime.

Warehime spends much of her time as one half of the team鈥檚 pitching duo (along with Gardner), but Howard says lately, it has been difficult keeping her out of the starting lineup.

鈥淲e put her in the lineup and I don鈥檛 think we have taken her out of the lineup since. She鈥檚 one of my top hitters,鈥� Howard said. 鈥淎nd the crazy thing about it, she just goes up with a great attitude and is so positive. She just puts the bat on the ball, and every time it just seems to be positive. It鈥檚 so awesome to go out there and watch her have fun.鈥�

Fun continues to be the name of the game for this year鈥檚 Carolina Forest team, which improved to 3-2 in region play with Tuesday鈥檚 win.

Weather permitting, the Panthers will play on the road at Conway in the series finale on Wednesday evening. The team did not schedule any games over spring break, meaning they will have an 11-day break before the next region series against Socastee, which begins on April 8.

鈥淚t always feels good to get a series from Conway, I鈥檓 not going to lie about that,鈥� Howard said. 鈥淚t feels good. But, we have a lot of work to do. There are some really good teams in our region. But, if we keep playing the way that we are, things are going to work out. That鈥檚 what I keep telling them.鈥�

Carolina Forest baseball evens series against Conway

Carolina Forest responded to Monday鈥檚 11-0 loss to Conway the way head coach Wayne Riser wanted them to: with grit and togetherness.

The Panthers rallied late on Tuesday to pick up a 3-2 win in game two of the series, forcing a rubber match on Wednesday evening 鈥� weather permitting.

Carolina Forest was led by a standout performance on the mound from starting pitcher Nolan Alexander, who worked 6.2 innings against the Tigers.

鈥淭hat was an outstanding pitching performance,鈥� Riser said of Alexander, who struck out the first two batters in the seventh inning before exiting with one out remaining. 鈥淚t was very gritty. He pitched extremely well, and I really can鈥檛 say enough about it. It kept us in the game the whole time. It gave us an opportunity鈥� it was a phenomenal performance.鈥�

Conway was in command of the game for much of the night 鈥� courtesy of starting pitcher Kenley McCracken鈥檚 strong outing 鈥� but Carolina Forest found a flash of offensive firepower in the bottom of the sixth inning to put a three spot on the board.

Parker Reavis led off the sixth with a double to left field and was driven in with another double, the second of the inning coming courtesy of Brett Barker. Luke McCusker helped the Panthers work the go-ahead run, setting the stage for the seventh inning.

Eli Chowning came into the game in relief of Alexander, closing out the win for Carolina Forest to even the series.

鈥淲e鈥檙e learning to play better baseball every day,鈥� Riser said. 鈥淲e are realizing that somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose. We have to worry about how well we are playing鈥� This is the first time that some of these guys have seen any failure around here. And that鈥檚 a tough thing to deal with. But they are starting to deal with it鈥� As far as development goes, [failure] is going to be there, so we have to overcome it.鈥�

If rain stays away, the third game of the series will take place on Wednesday evening.

Both Carolina Forest and Conway will compete in next week鈥檚 South Atlantic Bank Invitational, a week-long tournament over spring break that will see roughly 90 teams compete in the event.

Given his team鈥檚 youth, Riser says he鈥檚 looking forward to getting plenty of field time as the calendar flips over to April.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 necessary,鈥� the coach said of playing in the tournament. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very young. Everybody knows that. You can do all types of simulations in practice, but there is nothing like live game reps against a real competitor. And that鈥檚 what we need to do. That鈥檚 where we are in this program right now in 2024. We need to play more than anything.鈥�