Harmony rallies past Pasco, 4-3, in nine innings

By Rick Pedone

Sports Editor

You must know, right off the bat, that the Harmony High Lady Longhorns softball team beat Dade City Pasco High, 4-3, Tuesday in nine innings to win the 4A Region 2 championship and its first state tournament berth.

Further investigation about what happened at Pasco High Tuesday might lead you to believe that it is improbable for a softball team to advance to the state tournament given these facts: Harmony fielders committed six errors; its batters struck out 21 times; one of its best pitchers wished the team well from a wheelchair Tuesday afternoon; its best remaining pitcher was in the doctor’s office earlier in the day and didn’t arrive at the game until one hour before it started.

Oh, and Horns Coach Ralph King was ejected by the umpires, right after his team completed a rare triple play in the fifth inning that saved the season.

So, yes, Harmony indeed is the Region 2 champion despite defying logic and fate.

“These girls, absolutely, will not quit. No matter what, they keep fighting. It’s all about them,” King said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team fight through adversity the way this one has.”

Harmony plays at the Class 4A state tournament Monday at 2 p.m. at the National Training Center in Clermont. The Horns, 21-7, will meet Bradenton Braden River, a 1-0, 11-inning, winner over Naples Barron Collier. Eau Gallie and Jacksonville Bartram trail will square off in the other state semifinal Monday at noon.

The 4A championship game is Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Before Harmony boarded its bus for the trip to Pasco High, the players met with injured teammate Breann Vanderzyl, who was involved in an auto accident April 27 after the team beat Dunnellon in the regional quarterfinals. Vanderzyl, who underwent surgery for a broken leg, also suffered rib and pelvic fractures.

“She wished us good luck,” senior outfielder Brittany Bruns, who homered and scored the winning run Tuesday despite a sore hamstring, said. “It’s hard, because she’s such an important part of our team and we miss her. It’s just been crazy this post-season with all the injuries and things.”

King started freshman pitcher Molly Baker, who shut down Pasco and didn’t allow a hit through three innings. She was touched up for three hits and two runs in the fourth inning, however, causing King to call in Lauren Harris from center field to take over.

Harris, a sophomore flamethrower, probably had no business being anywhere except home in bed after suffering from abdominal pain Tuesday afternoon.

“I went to the doctor, but they aren’t sure what it is,” she said. “I don’t feel good.”

Yet, with her team trailing, 2-1, and with a runner on second and none out, Harris took the mound and immediately discovered that she would have to pitch from what appeared to be a meteor crater.

Pasco pitcher Courtney Brandt, who rang up the 21 strikeouts, likes a deep landing pit in front of the pitching circle to step into.

Harris doesn’t.

After King complained, repairs were made to the mound, but by the sixth inning, Harris became resigned to the fact that about half of her plant leg would disappear into the crater after each pitch. After hitting the first batter she saw, Harris worked out of the fourth-inning jam although an error allowed another run to score, making it 3-1.

“I wasn’t happy,” Harris said. “Between not feeling well to begin with and the way the pitching circle was so messy, it just seemed like everything was against us.”

It didn’t help that Pasco’s Brandt plunked Harris in the helmet in the first inning.

But, Harris didn’t allow a run in six innings.

Her effort was appreciated by her teammates.

“Lauren is a hero,” Bruns said.

King said Baker and Harris did exemplary jobs.

“We thought going in that we could get three innings from Molly, and that’s what she gave us. She did lights out,” King said. “Lauren is a person who is going to do everything she can to win. She was on some pain medication, she had to deal with the issues on the mound, and she came through. It was amazing on her part.”

Bruns’ solo homer to left in the second inning spotted the Horns a 1-0 lead, but Pasco’s Brandt was mowing down the rest of the lineup with a scorching fastball.

“It took us three innings to catch up with her, to adjust to what she was doing,” King said.

Things looked grim for Harmony in the bottom of the fifth when Harris, struggling, walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with none out.

But, when the Pirates’ Jordan Lane hit a one-hopper to Harmony first baseman Bri Kimura, everyone froze, not sure whether Kimura had caught the line drive on the fly.

“I didn’t. It hit the ground before I caught it,” she said.

Kimura threw to catcher Payton Dering for a force out at the plate. And still, everyone, both runners and fielders stood motionless. Finally, at the urging of King and the Harmony fans, the Horns tagged third base and then second base for two more force outs and the triple play.

“We did what we’ve been trained to do, what we knew to do from playing together for so long. We got the force at third and the force at second,” Kimura said.

But, it was not official until the umpires, seemingly confused about what happened, finally huddled and verified the triple play.

That was when King was ejected. After going on the field to plead for the umpires to call the triple play, King said he told an umpire as he was walking back to the dugout, ‘It’s about time we got control of this game,’” he said.

“That’s all I said. I didn’t get in his face. I wasn’t yelling. I was leaving the field,” King said. “That’s when he ejected me. That’s fine. So be it. There was so much stuff happening out there that whole game that wasn’t being handled properly, like with the mound, that it was time to say something,” King said. “I’m going to do whatever is necessary to protect my team.”

Under FHSAA rules, King won’t be permitted to coach his team at the state tournament because of the ejection. He said he will appeal.

The triple play changed the momentum, and Harmony shortstop Aleisha Ocasio led off the sixth inning with a hustle double to ignite the to-that-point silent Horns offense. Kimura blooped a single to left, then Harris put down a perfect bunt to put the runners at second and third.

Bruns came to the plate, and Brandt threw wild high, allowing Ocasio to race home to make it 3-2.

Bruns’ sacrifice fly to deep center field drove in the tying run.

“I knew I hit it hard,” Bruns said about her bid for a second home run. “I thought it had a chance.”

The Pirates saw a potential rally snuffed in the bottom of the seventh when runner interference was called against Lizzie Burchfield against Harmony second baseman Beth Newcott for the second out, and Harris fanned Lane to end the threat.

In the ninth inning, Bruns led off with a single to deep short, took second on a wild pitch, and came home with the winning run when Newcott and outfielder Savannah Austin reached on errors.

Pasco’s Amber Caudill singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and took second on an error, but Harris froze leadoff batter Kelly Parker with a riseball and got Lizzie Burchfield to line out to Ocasio at shortstop. Ocasio stepped on second base to force out Parker for a game-ending double play.

“We’re going to state. Oh my lord, that is so unbelievable,” Kimura said. “I’m so happy. It’s like a Cinderella story.”

The Longhorns advanced to the regional final by coming from behind to beat Tavares, 6-4, Friday in the semifinal round. Harris earned the win and drove in two runs, and Dering doubled and drove in a run for the Longhorns.

The game came just two days after Vanderzyl was seriously injured in the April 27 auto accident following a regional playoff win over Dunnellon.

“All of the girls had a good game Friday. We easily could have crumbled after we fell behind (2-0 and 4-2) with all of the emotion from the previous few days,” King said.