Hagerty High School, who came into the Kissimmee Klassic with a collective chip on their shoulders after being seeded last in the 16-premiere division, advanced to Saturday’s semifinals with an impressive 6-2 win over Pembroke Pines Charter on Friday afternoon.

Hagerty, now 19-2 and ranked 8th in the latest FHSAA Class 8A poll, broke open a 3-1 game by picking up a pair of runs in the third inning on back-to-back singles by Aubree Seaney and Chelsea Johnson.  The run support would be all Huskies’ starting pitcher Ashley Worrell would need.

Worrell pitched a complete game, scattering six hits and allowing two runs.  She walked four and struck out four. Charter (13-2) was led by Grasy Gomez’s two hits.   Claire Blount took the loss for Charter.

The Huskies will face the Gainesville at 12:00 PM Saturday.  The Hurricanes moved to 16-1 on Friday with an impressive 2-1 win over Lake Region, 15-1.   “For a second straight game, I thought we could have hit the ball a little better. Fortunately, we picked up some key hits and overcame a deficit to beat a really good Lake Region team,” Gainesville Head Coach Pete Mariano said.

It was not an easy game for the Hurricanes.  After giving up a run in the first, Gainesville trailed until Morgan Bare scored on Chronister’s double in the fourth.  They would take the lead for good when Chronister scored on an Olivia Hanson single.

For a second straight game, the Hurricanes got a dominant pitching performance from Chronister, a University of Florida signee.  The senior scattered five hits and did not allow an earned run, striking out seven and not walking a batter.  Chronister is now 2-0 in the tournament with 17 strikeouts and only two walks in 14 innings of work.  She is also four for four at the plate with three runs scored and two RBI.

Mariano was not sure whether he would pitch Chronister is the semifinals against Haggerty.  “She’s our workhorse and I know she is going to want the ball tomorrow,” Mariano added.  “She pitches a lot of innings and the heat took a lot out of all our players today including her, so we are just going to wait until game time and see how she feels.”

Lake Region received a fine outing from Mary Haff, who struck out 14 and allowed just two hits but was hurt by four walks in the game.

On the other side of the bracket, 10th-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas hammered Oakleaf High School, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in the most recent FAB 50 National High School Rankings , 11-3.

Senior Brooke Stock pitched a complete game for the Raiders, who went to 14-3 on the season. Stock allowed just four hits and one earned run with three strikeouts in seven innings.  “It seems like my riser, curve and changeup were all working today.   We were a little sloppy on defense tonight but when your team scores you 11 runs it takes a lot of pressure off,” Stock said.

Stock was backed by the hot bats of Lauren Stansell, who went three for four with two RBI.  Lindsay Gehring, Syndey Barron, and Janai Conklin all had two hits each.  Haley Willis had two hits for Oakleaf.

St. Thomas Head Coach Bryan Baucom noted that his team took care of its business.  “Our program has played a lot of big games in the last 22 years and played a lot of great teams during that time.  I just told them to relax and have fun because rankings do not mean anything.  The only thing that matters is whether you win your last game of the year.”

Baucom added that he was excited about playing Downers Grove in the semifinals.  “Besides the great competition in this tournament, it’s exciting when you get to play a top team from a different state.  We don’t know a lot about them but the fact remains they are also undefeated in this tournament so it is going to be a great challenge for us.”

Downers Grove South, the Illinois school that only had a chance to play two games before the start of the tournament, advanced to the Saturday semifinals with an impressive 8-3 win over sixth-seated North Ft. Myers, 17-1.

Downers Grove took advantage of RBI singles by Caroline Hedgcock, Megan LoBianco, and Nicole Bowman to grab a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  They then would put the game away by scoring four runs after two were out in the third inning to up the lead to 7-0.  

Shelby Coyne keyed a three-run rally for North Ft. Myers with a two-run double, but they could not get any closer for the rest of the game.

 “Because of weather back home, we only got to play one game back there and one against St. Cloud earlier this week, so this team came into this tournament with very little game experience,” Downers Grove Head Coach Ron Havelka said.  “So to come in here and beat Gulliver Prep 16-1 yesterday and a previously undefeated and nationally ranked North Ft. Myers team today was extremely satisfying.  Our bats have been really good today and we picked up some key two-out hits today.”

In Gold Bracket quarterfinal action, Clay High School (14-3) advanced with an 11-6 upset win over third-seeded Canterbury.  Katlyn Morgan tripled, went three for four and drove in four RBI to lead a 16-hit Clay attack.  Hailey Stone also had four hits and three runs scored for the Blue Devils.  Danielle Romanello had four hits for Canterbury.

Clay will meet Baron Collier in one Gold Division Semifinal.  Collier advanced with a 6-4 win over Orange City University.  Chloee Freisdchmidt collected three hits and knocked in a pair of runs to back the complete game, six-hit pitching of Tori Sutherland.  Collier, the second seed in the tournament went to 15-4 on the season.  University fell to 12-8. 

Lake Howell (12-8) also advanced to the semifinals with a 9-3 win over top-seeded Montverde Academy (15-3).  Alyssa Oakes keyed a six-run second inning with a two-run homer.  Howell banged out 12 hits, including three by Shanika Klett.  Giovanna Watts pitched five innings for the win.  

Fifth-seeded Bradford (9-7) will play in the semifinals tomorrow after beating host-Osceola (13-4) by a score of 8-4.  The Tornadoes had to come back from a 4-1 deficit, scoring three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.  Harli Phillips cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth and Annie Duke had a two-run double in the fourth.  Haisette Escudero had two hits, including a triple, for Osceola.

BLUE DIVISION 

Newsome 8, Marist 5

Newsome ranked number one in FHSAA Class 9A, overcame a 5-1 deficit and defeat Marist,8-5, in a consolation bracket game.  Brooke Leistl and Cassidy Davis each had two hits for Newsome.  Davis allowed one earned run in four and a third innings to pick up the win.

St. Cloud 14, Bishop Verot 13

Bri Rodriguez unloaded on a bases loaded triple with two out in the ninth inning to beat Bishop Verot, 14-13, in a consolation slugfest.   The Lady Bulldogs gave up nine runs in the top of the first inning, but came back with eight of their own to make it a 9-8 game. After St. Cloud tied it with a run in the fourth, Verot tagged on four more runs in the fifth on Tayli Fila’s grand slam home run.  Rodriguez went three for five with six RBI in the game, Fila went three for five with seven RBI.

Winter Springs 10, Gulliver Prep 0

Kenzie Longanecker and Taylor Thomas combined on a six-hit shutout as Winter Springs shutout Gulliver Prep and a consolation bracket game.  Longanecker worked six innings, striking out six and allowing just three hits. Catcher Alicia Wittenhagen drove in three runs for Winter Springs.

Cooper City 10, Miami Palmetto 9

Michelle Adelman two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning led Cooper City (11-5) to a 10-9 come-from-behind win over Miami-Palmetto in a consolation game on Friday afternoon.  Leanna Hernandez also drove in two runs with a solo home run for the Cowboys. Jayla Digennaro went two for four with three RBI for Palmetto, 18-3. 

Newsome 6, St. Cloud 1

Hannah Pridemore and Annie Tarte had three hits each as Newsome advanced to the consolation round semifinals with a 6-1 win over St. Cloud.  Claire Feldman allowed just four hits in pitching a complete game.  Sara Crawford homered for St. Cloud.

Winter Springs 11, Cooper City 7

Leadoff hitter Kaley Mudge went three for four with two runs scored and two RBI to lead Winter Springs to a 11-7 win over Cooper City.  The win moved Winter Springs into Saturday’s consolation semifinals.

Marist 8, Bishop Verot 5

Madison Naujokas went two for four and drove in three runs and Vanessa Villasenor added two RBI to lead Marist to an 8-5 win over Bishop Verlot.  The win moved Marist into a Saturday consolation semifinal game.  Jessy McLean homered and Jordan Breadmore drove in three runs for Bishop Verlot.

Miami Palmetto 7, Gulliver Prep 6 (8 Innings)

Alyssa Vincent drove home the game-winning run  in the bottom of the eighth inning with an RBI single to give Miami Palmetto a 7-6 win over Gulliver Prep. Brianna Bahadue had three hits for Gulliver.

 

GOLD DIVISION

Okeechobee 9, Lake Nona 0

Jordan Lewis pitched six innings of two-hit ball to lead Okeechobee to a 9-0 win over Lake Nona in a consolation bracket game.  Lewis struck out six and did not allow a run in picking up the win.  Lewis picked up all the runs they would need with a four-run, first inning highlighted by Hannah Collier two-run single.

Columbia 7, Eau Gallie 1

Tatum Morgan drove in four runs on a three for four night at the plate to lead Columbia to a 7-1 win over Eau Gallie.  Morgan’s day included two doubles and single.  Cris'Deona Beasley did not allow a run in two and a third innings to pick up the win.  She also had two RBI and scored two runs in the victory. Mary Noonan took the loss on the mound for Eau Gallie, but collected three hits at the plate.

Key West 7, Pace 0

Key West advanced in the consolation bracket with a 7-0 forfeit win over Pace.

Riverview 10, Florida Christian 6

Entering the game with her team trailing 6-5, Haley Murphy stuck out 11 and did not allow a run in relief as Riverview rallied for a 10-6 win over Florida Christian in a consolation bracket game.  Riverview managed just four RBI in the game but took advantage of seven Florida Christian errors to score nine unearned runs in the game.

Montverde Academy 7, Osceola  2

Heather Franson and Bailey Battle combined on a one-hitter as Montverde advanced to the consolation round quarterfinal with a 7-2 win over host-Osceola.  Emily Martin’s two-run double in the sixth broke open a 3-1 game and put the game away for Montverde.

University Orange City 8, Canterbury 7 (8 innings)

University took advantage of throwing errors to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth and defeat Canterbury in a consolation round quarterfinal.  Cailyn Cothron gave Canterbury the lead in the top of the seventh with an RBI single. Taylor Langworthy and  Karlee Beard combined for six hits, three runs and three RBI for the winners.


Written By: J. Daniel Pearson