Bishop Guertin's Kailey Olesak reacts after just missing a pitch during the Division I semifinals at Plymouth's Chase Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

PLYMOUTH – Their magic ran out, but really it was through no big fault of their own.

No, those disappointed with the Bishop Guertin High School softball team’s 5-0 Division I semifinals loss at the hands of No. 2 Pinkerton Academy can blame Astros sophomore pitcher Julia Caruso.

Officially, Caruso no-hit the Cards, striking out 12, as the Astros advanced to Saturday’s finals here at Chase Field vs. arch rival Londonderry, the team that ended the BG underdog run in last year’s finals.

“She’s really good,” Cards coach Dakota Bilodeau said of Caruso. “I think we started to make adjustments, like fouling balls off and starting to really go for good pitches. But we really didn’t get on time and barrel anything up. We put balls in play and they didn’t fall. That happens, they’re a good team. They put balls in play hard, we made some mistakes and they capitalized.”

The only play that could’ve been considered a hit for BG (15-6) was in the sixth, when, down 5-0, Sophie Bilodeau laid down a bunt, clearly going for a base hit with a runner on and Caruso threw it away.

But there was no one covering first and one could’ve considered Bilodeau safe at first on her own, and the error advanced her to second. But either way, the Cards got a walk to load the bases with nobody out, but Caruso caught Meara McDevitt looking, and Kailey Olesak tried to score on a wild pitch but was out at home. Gabby Gillette grounded out and that was that.

“We just didn’t have some timely hitting, really,” Bilodeau said. “It just didn’t work out.”

And they needed some hitting because the 18-3 Astros got the runs they needed, two in the fourth to snap a scoreless tie on an RBI single by Cara Murray and a wild pitch. They broke it open in the fifth with three runs on four hits and two BG errors. The Cards allowed a couple of catchable balls to drop and that set the table, a run coming in on an RBI groundout, an RBI Caruso single and a single by Abigail Carvalho that was misplayed allowing a run to score.

Pinketton’s Cara Murray is safe at home just ahead of the tag by Bishop Guertin catcher Deanna Miles during Wednesday’s Division I semis in Plymouth. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Cards pitcher Jenny Davey deserved a better fate, but the story was still Caruso, who survived four walks.

“Davey is a good pitcher,” Astros coach Tom Wall said. “She knows how to set people up. … (Caruso) has matured this year, has worked on mechanics.

“We needed to get that hit (leadoff single in the third by Ryleigh Michaud) to get started. The girls were tight. The girls were tight. They felt the pressure but they broke through it.”

Still, the Cards, for the second straight year, were a Final Four team.

“Yeah, obviously that’s are goal every year,” Bilodeau. “It’s a real hard working group and these seniors are really awesome. It’s going to look a little different (next year), that’s for sure.”