By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The St. Cloud Little League age 11-12 All-Stars reached the semifinal round of the state softball tournament last weekend at Fort Myers.

After a first-round loss to South Tampa, the St. Cloud All-Stars defeated Northwest Escambia, 11-1, and Port St. Johns, 10-0, in pool play before falling to New Tampa, 2-1, in the semifinals.

Sara Crawford hit her first home run at the state tournament.

St. Cloud advanced to the state tournament after defeating Delaney Park and Windermere by 10-0 scores at the sectional tournament two weeks ago. The St. Cloud team defeated Conway for the District 3 championship.

In eight All-Star games, the team batted .404 and outscored tournament foes 78-14. Jaden Kline led the team with 11 RBIs.

The pitching trio of Paige Wright, Paige Shantz and Lilly Mann surrendered only 11 hits total in tournament play.

Also competing for the All-Stars were Mikeila Bush, Kaitley Shirah, Taelyn Ramirez, Maddie Urguiola, Kendall Brown, Sara Crawford, Kaitlyn Ruiz and Marlo Whaley.

Ray Whobrey managed the team with coaches Steve Shantz and Kevin Mann.

The Celebration 11-12 All-Star baseball team lost at the sectional tournament last weekend in Union Park. The team won the District 3 championship.