Strawberry Crest and Durant softball met on Saturday for a morning matchup between two teams that remain featured as some of the best in the county, with the Cougars entering the contest at 11-5 and the Chargers at 5-2.
Both teams were included in Bay Made Fastpitch’s Elite 8 Coaches Poll for Week 5, with Durant being voted the fifth-best squad in the county and Strawberry Crest coming in at seventh.
In a top-notch pitching matchup between Durant junior Amy Bak and Crest junior Ariana Rego, all of the game’s runs were scored on just two swings of the bat as Durant was ultimately able to overcome a late deficit and come away victorious with a 3-2 win despite the absence of multiple seniors.
Durant threatened in the first as freshman Lennox Ullrich drew a walk to open the contest, stealing second and moving to third on a passed ball, but Rego was ultimately able to escape the inning unscathed. In the bottom of the second, Crest put some offensive pressure of their own together as freshman Lola Coole tripled to left with one out, but the Chargers were unable to capitalize.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Chargers finally opened the scoring. A base hit from Kennedy Shea put one runner on for Coole as she roped her second triple of the game to right center, coming all the way around to score on a misplayed relay back to the infield, giving Crest a 2-0 lead.
Durant was able to put two runners on in the bottom of the fifth and Rego once again escaped the jam without allowing a run, but Durant was able to break through and capitalize on their scoring opportunities in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back base hits and a walk loaded the bases for Bak — already in the midst of a stellar day on the mound as she stepped to the plate — who cleared the bags with a three-run, go ahead double.
From there, the Cougars were able to hold on and escape with the narrow victory. The win was Durant’s third straight, entering the weekend off of a 9-0 win over Plant City last Tuesday and a 12-1 win over Jefferson last Wednesday. For the Chargers, Saturday marked their third consecutive loss following a 5-0 start to the year, coming by way of a razor-thin 4-3 loss to Newsome — the best softball team in the county according to coaches polled by Bay Made Fastpitch — and a 9-6 loss to Tampa Catholic.
Bak has carried a fair share of the pitching duties for Durant thus far, allowing just 11 earned runs while striking out 53 hitters over his 61 innings pitched on the year, good for an earned run average of just 1.26. Her slate of steady performances have been especially crucial in the absence of senior Haleigh Thomas, who returned from injury on Monday with four innings of scoreless pitching, her first appearance on the mound since March 12.
For Crest, Rego has not just been the Chargers’ most reliable pitcher, she’s been their only pitcher. Through Crest’s first nine games, all complete game efforts from Rego, she’s allowed 19 earned runs and struck out a jaw-dropping 83 hitters over 57 innings for an earned run average of 2.33.
Both teams added another win on Monday, with Durant beating Gaither 5-1 to move to 13-5 and Strawberry Crest beating Armwood 13-2 to move to 6-3.