Bulldogs will play for a 3rd championship in boys volleyball
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Lindsay Green homered and pitched a two-hitter against Tohopekaliga Tuesday in the OBC semifinal to set up a Longhorns-Bulldogs championship Friday. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS -
St. Cloud sophomore pitcher Addison Felblinger delivers a pitch against Osceola on Tuesday night. PHOTO/DAN PEARSON
Addison Felblinger pitched a one-hitter and the Bulldogs’ bats came aliv, as St. Cloud throttled rival Osceola, 13-0, in the semifinals of the 2024 Orange Belt Conference Tournament Tuesday.
Seeded No. 2, the Bulldogs improved to 9-10 and will meet arch-rival Harmony Friday at 7 p.m. for the championship at Celebration High. Osceola will play Tohopekaliga in the third-place game at 5 p.m. Harmony reached the title game with a 16-1 win over the Tohopekaliga to improve to 7-7.
St. Cloud's sophomore hurler was dominant, allowing just a harmless double in the fourth inning. She struck out six, including four of the last five batters she faced and allowed just two balls to reach the outfield.
“Addison did a great job in mixing her pitches tonight and got stronger as the game went on,” St. Cloud coach Ray Whobrey said. “Her goal is to be a Division I player. She has an opportunity to become a very special player here and I think it’s a realistic goal.”
While Felblinger controlled things in the pitching circle, her teammates gave her a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Shyenne Hawkins’ two-out, two-run bloop double down the right field line. With the outfield swung around to left, Leah McLaughlin followed with a line drive down the right field line went for a two-run inside-the-park home run.
Kacey Pagan slammed a home run to right center with one out in the second and Felblinger followed three batters later with a run-scoring double. Savannah Barlow then delivered an RBI triple and St. Cloud led 7-0 after two.
“Kacey is a really good hitter and has some pop in her bat, so I don’t really consider her a No. 9 hitter,” Whobrey said. “I just like her down there because she can turn over the lineup for us.”
Any thoughts of an Osceola comeback in the game disappeared in the third, when St. Cloud sent 11 players to the plate and scored six more runs. A bases-loaded double by Barlow scored three to key the inning and give her four RBI for the game.
St. Cloud pounded out 13 hits, two each from Hawkins, Barlow, Felblinger and Brooke Scott. The victory was far different than a March 7 game between the two teams when St. Cloud managed just one hit and needed a pair of unearned runs to beat the Kowboys, 2-1.
“The big difference tonight was that our hitters were finding the holes and gaps,” Whobrey added. “We hit some balls hard in that first game, but (Osceola’s) defense was really stout.”
In the other semifinal game, Harmony used 12 hits and took advantage of five Tigers errors in its big win over Tohopekaliga. Lindsay Green collected three hits, drove in three runs, hit a home run and pitched a two-hitter to lead the Longhorns. Sarah Rothell and Natalie Booth also had three RBI each.
Softball is not the only sport the Bulldogs will be competing in Friday for an OBC championship. With an 8-0 win over Gateway on Monday and a 2-0 shutout of Osceola on Tuesday, St. Cloud (11-6 on season) will host Harmony (11-8) on Friday for the OBC crown. The top-seeded Longhorns reached the final with a 10-0 win over Liberty in the quarterfinals and an 8-2 win over Tohopekaliga in the semifinals. It will be a rematch of last week’s regular season game won by Harmony, 6-4.
St. Cloud boys’ volleyball (13-5) will give the Bulldogs a chance to win three OBC crowns Friday when they play Tohopekaliga at Gateway. St. Cloud advanced to the finals with a 25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-11 four-set win over Harmony. Tohopekaliga upset No. 3 Poinciana on Monday and No. 2 Celebration on Tuesday to reach the finals.
OBC Championship Week Results
OBC Softball
Monday Quarterfinals
Harmony 15, Gateway 0
Tohopekaliga 10, Poinciana 0
Osceola 15, Liberty 0
St. Cloud 19, Celebration 0
Tuesday Semifinals
Harmony 16, Tohopekaliga 1
St. Cloud 13, Osceola 0
Friday’s Championship
Harmony vs. St. Cloud (at Celebration) 7 p.m.
OBC Baseball
Monday Quarterfinals
Harmony 10, Liberty 0
Tohopekaliga 18, Celebration 0
St. Cloud 8, Gateway 0
Osceola 13, Poinciana 0
Tuesday Semifinals
Harmony 8, Tohopekaliga 2
St. Cloud 2, Osceola 0
Friday’s Championship
Harmony at St. Cloud, 7 p.m.
OBC Boys Volleyball
Monday Quarterfinals
St. Cloud, bye
Harmony 3, Gateway 0
Celebration 3, Liberty 0
Poinciana 3, Tohopekaliga 0
Tuesday’s Semifinals
St. Cloud 3, Harmony 1
Tohopekaliga 3, Celebration 2
Friday’s Championship
St. Cloud vs. Tohopekaliga (at Gateway) 7p.m.
