All three area softball teams saw their seasons come to an end Tuesday in their respective FHSAA region semifinal games. Below is a recap of Tuesday’s games, along with a photo gallery of the best photos from the 2013 high school softball season.
Crest Falls to Lakewood Ranch
Despite outhitting their opponent 11 to 8, Strawberry Crest fell to Lakewood Ranch 5-1 Tuesday night on the road in the 6A Region 3 semifinals.
Lakewood Ranch’s Taylor Newton homered to left in the second to break up a scoreless game. Lakewood Ranch then broke things open in the fifth with four runs, including RBIs from Amber Wimmer and Newton.
Strawberry Crest was led by Mia Fung, who went 3-for-3. Junior Sammy Tyler got the start for the Lady Chargers, pitching five innings and giving up one earned run on seven hits. Freshman Scottie Todd threw one inning in relief.
Savannah Bradley doubled to left in the seventh to bring in Cacey Simmons for the only run of the game for the Lady Chargers.
Amanda Rak got the complete game win for the Lady Mustangs, giving up 11 hits and three walks to five strikeouts.
Strawberry Crest ends the season with a 24-3 record, their best season to date after reaching the region semifinals for the first time in program history.
Durant falls short of repeat
The Durant softball team fell at home to Palm Harbor Tuesday in the 8A region semifinals.
The win avenged a 2012 loss for Palm Harbor to Durant in the region semifinals, as Durant went on to win the 8A state championship.
Jessica Adam’s RBI single in the sixth brought in the only run of the game, ending Durant’s season at 20-9 overall. Palm Harbor’s Torey Scott allowed just five hits in the complete game win.
Durant had two on with two outs in the bottom of the second, but couldn’t get the tying or winning run across.
Palm Harbor will move on to the region finals Friday, where the Hurricanes will face either Timber Creek or East River with a trip to the final four at stake.
Durant advanced to the region semifinals after routing East Lake 11-0 in the region quarterfinal April 25. Durant repeated as 8A-7 district champions this year, with a 5-0 win over Wharton april 18.
Plant City shutout by River Ridge
After a big win over Bartow in the region quarterfinals, Plant City’s season came to an end Tuesday in the 7A Region 2 softball semifinals with a 8-0 loss to Lake Region.
Lake Region went up 1-0 after one, before adding a run in the second and one in the third. The fourth brought in three more runs for Lake Region.
Plant City ends the year 17-9. The Lady Raiders finished as runner up in the 7A-8 district tournament before beating Bartow, last year’s 7A state runner-up, in the region quarterfinal.