Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Gwyneth Schultz celebrates scoring a run in the sixth inning of Thursday afternoon's contest against Maple River at Cardinal Park.

FAIRMONT – There’s just something about the late innings of a softball game that elevates the 2026 Fairmont Cardinals. From putting together good at-bats to making plays in the field, the Cardinals seem to play even better when the lights are at their brightest.

Thursday night was no different. Brylee Miller lined an RBI walk-off single through the left side of the infield to score Gwyneth Schultz from second base, sending Fairmont home with an 8-7 victory over Maple River at Cardinal Park. Fairmont is now 13-3 and winners of its past six contests.

“I wish I knew how, so maybe I could teach it,” Fairmont head coach Cory Hainy said on his team’s ability to perform well late in games.

“We could’ve gotten down. We could’ve quit. But we didn’t. We just kept hanging around and hanging around.”

Part of the comeback came from Fairmont’s ability to weather the storm early on. Cardinal starting pitcher Lexi Sundeen didn’t have her best stuff to begin the contest, walking four batters and allowing two hits that led to an early two-run lead for the Eagles.

Miller came into relief with one away in the second frame while facing a bases-loaded situation. Maple River tacked on three more runs via passed balls and sacrifice bunts. All of a sudden Fairmont faced a 5-0 disadvantage as they prepared for the home half of the inning.

“This was one of the first nights we weren’t ready to play. We were flat at the beginning and didn’t play well,” Hainy said.

But the score remained the same. Miller continued to settle into the game with her high-powered pitching arsenal. With the help of her defense, she tossed three consecutive scoreless innings to give her offense a chance to bounce back.

And bounce back they did. Bria Williamson took advantage of a two-out, bases-loaded situation by ripping her first of two singles through the left side of the field, scoring Schultz and Miller to give some life to the Cardinal offense. Fairmont tacked on one more score with Ariel Oskerson squeaking one to shallow left field. It was the response they needed.

Things kept rolling into the next inning. Brooklyn Stone got it started after leading off with a single. Schultz and Miller followed this with back-to-back triples that roped to deep center field and brought in the tying runs.

Miller added one more score after a passed ball stood idle on the dirt, using her quickness and agility to touch home plate and put her team up 6-5.

Maple River answered quickly in the top half of the seventh. With two strikes on her, Reagan FitzSimmons ripped a drive deep into right-center field for an easy stand-up double. Olivia Sellers delivered another clutch hit two batters later to knot things up at six.

Both teams traded one run during their respective trips to the plate in the ninth.

FitzSimmons again led the inning strongly with a rocket to center field, this time gliding into third base. Nine-hole hitter Bria Cole came through for the Eagles with her first base knock of the afternoon. Her single looped just past Williamson at first base to bring in the leading score.

Fairmont loaded up the bases after reaching base on two free bases and another single from Williamson. Avery Kurt got tagged with the game-tying play after taking a pitch to the body and walking in Sundeen from third.

Miller prevented Maple River from reclaiming the lead in the 10th by working out of a pair of singles from Maddie Ward and FitzSimmons. She finished off her incredible 8.2 inning masterclass by striking out the final two batters and allowing the Cardinals to win it once and for all.

Fairmont will participate in another mid-season tournament this weekend in Windom. The first contests are set to start at 9:00 a.m. Adrian Area, Windom Area and Minneota/Canby are the three other teams competing.