St. Cloud begins softball playoffs Thursday
St. Cloud was the county’s lone team to reach the FHSAA softball regional playoffs. The Bulldogs (21-5) as the No. 3 seed in Region 7A-2, will host Orlando Boone (14-10) on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
St. Cloud earned that spot by claiming the District 7A-6 championship last week in thrilling 3-2 fashion over rival Harmony (12-13).
Kacey Pagan opened the fifth inning with a double and later scored on a wild pitch for the winning run.
“I know the fans love ‘em, but I sort of hate rivalry games—especially this time of year,” a relieved St. Cloud coach Ray Whobrey said of his team that won its first district championship since 2019. “There’s enough pressure in any playoff game and the rivalry aspect just magnifies that pressure. Still I am really proud of how these kids responded and fought all game. We have a really young team and they remained calm when things got tight.”
St. Cloud jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning thanks to some aggressive base running. With two outs, Addison Felblinger blooped a single over second base, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Skylah Rodriguez walked and then stole second. Felblinger scored on a wild pitch and Rodriguez followed on a single by Sheyene Hawkins.
The Longhorns tied it in the top of the third thanks to some key hitting and smart base running. With one out, Lindsay Green smashed a double down the third base line and Jade Allen put runners on the corners with a single to center. Emerson Aslan coaxed a walk to load the bases. Haley Diaz hit an RBI single, then Harmony tied it when Aslan intentionally got caught in a run down between second and third allowing Allen to score the tying run.
Despite Green’s fifth-inning double that stayed in park thanks to the high batter’s eye wall in center, Felblinger settled down to retire Allen and Yi on infield pop ups to end the inning. Pagan’s run in the bottom of the fifth was the winning margin.
Harmony had the potential tying run on base in the sixth and seventh innings, but Felblinger, who gave up six hits and struck out eight, ended each threat.
“We have ridden Addison all season and she was great again tonight,” Whobrey said. “After Green’s double in the fifth, Addison just bore down and really didn’t allow much after that.”
HARMONY HEARTBREAKER; BASEBALL SEASON ENDS IN REGIONAL SEMIS
Harmony won the first in the best-of-3 Region 7A-2 on Wednesday, but could not get a win on Thursday or Saturday, and the Longhorns’ season ended in Jupiter at 24-6.
The team couldn’t hold on to an 11-7 sixth-inning lead, after scoring seven in the top of the inning, but could only watch as Jupiter, who knocked St. Cloud out in the previous round, came back to win 12-11.
Harmony took an impressive 13-4 come-from-behind win in Game 1. The Horns fell behind 3-0, but tied the game then batted around in the fourth to score five times and put the game away in the sixth with four more runs. Matt Grau and Samuel Castillo each drove in three runs and Ismael Rivera picked up the win—striking out eight and allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings.
In Thursday’s Game 2, Griffin Miller slammed two home runs and drove in five runs to lead Jupiter to a 13-9 win. Nine of Jupiter’s runs were scored by hitters that either walked or were hit by pitches. In all, five Harmony pitchers issued 12 walks and hit two batters, in addition to allowing nine hits.
Harmony jumped out to a 5-2 after sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five runs in the bottom of the third, but Miller hit a grand slam in the fifth to give Jupiter a lead it wouldn’t lose, setting up Saturday’s fireworks down south.
“It was a little disappointing finish to a great season. I really liked our chances going into the final Jupiter game,” HHS Coach Heath Williams said. We were going to start Raul Romay in that game, a freshman that has had an outstanding year for us. Unfortunately, he heard a pop in his shoulder in warmups and wasn’t able to go, which was a crushing blow. Bottom line is we just ran out of pitching, but I was still extremely proud of how hard these guys fought all the way to the end. They truly were a special team and most of these seniors were with us for four years.”
BOYS VOLLEYBALL:
Poinciana and Harmony earned their ways into the Region 3A-2 playoffs as at large teams.
Harmony (15-9) as the No. 6 seed and took on Cypress Creek (16-3), who the Longhorns lost to in the District 3A-7 championship Thursday in three sets, fell again in three, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21, Tuesday.
Poinciana (10-8), who beat Celebration in a epic 25-18, 1825, 26-20, 20-25, 15-7 District 6 championship, was the No. 8 seed and headed to Orlando Freedom on Tuesday, where they lost 25-21, 25-8, 25-12.
