The Plant City High School softball team knew that, eventually, its historic 2017 season would come to an end. The girls had hoped that it would be a happy end on Saturday, May 20, lifting the 8A state title at the Historic Dodgertown complex in Vero Beach.
Unfortunately for the Raiders and their fans, the state semifinal game didn't go as hoped. Wellington High School's offense surged in the fifth inning and held on to win, 6-1, on Friday, May 19.
"We were having a good run," head coach Ashley Bullion says. "We just couldn't make the plays that we needed to in the end. That, unfortunately, cost us. But we had a great season."
The Raiders came ready to play ball, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Abbie DeWeese hit an RBI single to score Emily Longoria from third base. Anchored by ace pitcher Ashley Blessin, the Plant City defense kept Wellington's bats firmly in check for several innings.
Things got out of Blessin's control in the middle innings, though. Wellington's Katie Schmidt took advantage of a series of defensive mistakes in the fourth inning, smacking an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1. One inning later, the Wolverines' offense came alive and produced five runs with two outs on the board. The Raiders gave up three RBI singles and a two-RBI double, setting the score at 6-1 in favor of Wellington.
Though the Raiders registered two singles in the top of the sixth inning, thanks to Beka Schulte and Longoria, the Wolverines were able to keep the Plant City offense from making anything happen.
After a three-up, three-down seventh inning, all cries of joy came from the Wellington side of the field. But the Raiders, frustrated as they may have been with the loss, weren't totally devastated.
"We had a good run, and we did a lot for Plant City and we made history," Bullion says. "And next year, we've just got to be better than we were right now … now that we were here, we know what it takes to win."